| Masked Palm Civet[1] | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Viverridae |
| Subfamily: | Paradoxurinae |
| Genus: | Paguma Gray, 1831 |
| Species: | P. larvata |
| Binomial name | |
| Paguma larvata (C. E. H. Smith, 1827) |
|
| Masked Palm Civet range | |
The masked palm civet or gem-faced civet (Paguma larvata) is a civet species native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is classified by IUCN in 2008 as Least Concern as it occurs in many protected areas, is tolerant to some degree of habitat modification, and widely distributed with presumed large populations that are unlikely to be declining.[2]
In recent times, masked palm civets were considered to be a likely vector of SARS.[3]
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In appearance the masked malm civet resembles other civets. Its fur is orange-brown to gray, and has no spots or stripes, unlike most other related species. Only the feet are darker, often black. The face has a black and white variation: a white strip stretches from the forehead to the nose, surrounded by two black stripes, but the eyes are surrounded by white spots. The cheeks and the sides of the nose are black. The main body varies from 51 to 76 cm (20 to 28 in) in length, to which is added a tail of 51 to 63 cm (20 to 25 in). It weighs between 3.6 and 6 kg (8 and 13.2 lb).
Masked palm civet are distributed from northern India to Southeast Asia and China. They are also found on several islands, such as Borneo, Sumatra, Taiwan, and the Andaman and Nicobar chains. In Japan, it is unclear whether they are a native species or were recently introduced by humans.[4] They live in forests, especially tropical rainforest and temperate deciduous forest.
The masked palm civet is a nocturnal solitary predator, which stays principally in trees. During the day, it sleeps in the treetops. When alarmed, the animal sprays a secretion from its anal gland against the predator. The spray is similar in function to that of a skunk, and its conspicuousness serves to deter other predators.
The masked palm civet is an omnivore, but the largest component of its diet is fruit. In addition it eats small vertebrates (such as squirrels and birds) as well as insects.
The female can bear young twice per year, in litters of one to four. The young grow to the size of an adult in about three months. Upon completion of copulation, males leave a copulation plug in the female's vaginal tract.[5]
In parts of China masked palm civets are hunted for their meat and eaten. Inadequate preparation of the meat may have been the cause for the outbreak of SARS.[3] In May 2003, the SARS virus was isolated in several masked palm civets found in a live-animal market in Guangdong, China. Evidence of virus infection was also detected in other animals including a racoon dog, and in humans working at the same market.[6]
In 2006, scientists from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of Hong Kong University and the Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention established a direct genetic link between the SARS coronavirus appearing in civet cats and humans, bearing out claims that the disease had jumped across species.[7]
A later study revealed that the sequences of many SARS genomes show that the civets' cases of SARS were just one part of the family tree of SARS viruses in humans — probably humans got SARS from bats, then humans gave it to pigs once and to small civets once, and then these small carnivores may have given the disease back to humans once or twice. All the cases of SARS associated with the outbreak appeared to be part of the bat branch of the coronavirus phylogeny.[8]
The principal danger for the masked palm civet is continued habitat destruction.[2]
Paguma larvata is protected in Malaysia and Thailand. The population of India is listed on CITES Appendix III.[2] In Hong Kong, it is a protected species under Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170.