Otter Civet Cynogale bennettii

Otter Civet Cynogale bennettii

Endangered

Extant (resident): Brunei Darussalam; Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatera); Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak)

Presence Uncertain: Thailand

The beautiful and elusive Otter Civet lives primarily in peatland forests and riverine swamps. Their prominent snouts and long whiskers give them keen sensory understanding of their environment. They face serious ongoing threat to their survival in Borneo and are rapidly disappearing due to palm oil deforestation and gold mining pollution run-off into rivers. Help them to survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.

Little is known of Otter Civet habitat and ecology. This species was believed to be confined largely to peat swamp forests, but there are now also records from lowland dipterocarp forest (Sebastian 2005, Cheyne et al. in prep.). They seem to be most strongly associated with lowland primary forest, but they have been recorded in secondary forest, bamboo, and logged forest (Veron et al. 2006, Wilting et al. 2010, A.J. Hearn and J. Ross pers. comm. 2014); their long-term persistence in these habitats is unknown (Veron et al. 2006). The Otter Civet is listed as Endangered because of a presumed small and declining population. Based on data in Miettinen et al. (2011), the presumed primary habitat for Otter Civet has been greatly reduced historically and has declined by about 20% over the last two generations (presumed to be 10 years; Pacifici et al. 2013). The remaining habitat is discontinuous, often degraded; and water sources, presumed to be important for the species, are often polluted.

Threats

This species of Bornean viverid faces many human-related threats.

• Palm oil deforestation: A major threat to the Otter Civet.
• Gold mining: chemical pollution from gold mining is a threat.
• Agricultural pollution run-off into rivers
• Unintentional capture in hunting snares: Evidence does not suggest that this species is hunted directly but may unintentionally be killed in traps.

You can support this beautiful animal

There are no known conservation activities for this animal. Share out this post to social media and join the #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife on social media to raise awareness

Further Information

Ross, J., Wilting, A., Ngoprasert, D., Loken, B., Hedges, L., Duckworth, J.W., Cheyne, S., Brodie, J., Chutipong, W., Hearn, A., Linkie, M., McCarthy, J., Tantipisanuh, N. & Haidir, I.A. 2015. Cynogale bennettii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T6082A45197343. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T6082A45197343.en. Downloaded on 24 January 2021.

Predicted distribution of the otter civet Cynogale bennettii (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) on Borneo

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