Otter civet

Cynogale bennettii

SUBFAMILY

Hemigalinae

TAXONOMY

Cynogale bennettii Gray, 1837, Sumatra.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Water civet; French: Civette-loutre de Sumatra; German: Mampalon; Spanish: Cibeta nutria.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body length 23–27 in (57–68 cm), tail 5–8 in (13–21 cm), weight 6.5–11 lb (3–5 kg). The body is heavy and compact. The black legs are short and have naked soles and greatly curved claws. All feet are webbed, but the hind legs have less webbing than the forefeet. The broad, flat nose is well supplied with vibrissae. The nasal openings are on top of the nose, and the ears are rounded. The hair is yellowish gray-brown with a black-brown throat and lower lip. The chin and a spot over the eyes are yellowish white.

DISTRIBUTION

North Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.

HABITAT

Streams and swampy areas.

BEHAVIOR

Solitary, good climber, but not strong swimmer. Longevity may reach five years.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Crustacens, mollusks, fish, birds, small mammals, and fruits.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Litter size is two to three. Mating system is not known.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Listed as Endangered by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

Otter Civet
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Viverridae Subfamily: Hemigalinae Genus: Cynogale Species: C. bennettii
Binomial name
Cynogale bennettii J E Gray, 1837

The Otter Civet, Cynogale bennettii, is an aquatic civet from South East Asia. Sometimes known as the Sunda Otter Civet, it lives in rivers and swampy areas of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java. The otter civet possesses several adaptions to its habitat, including a broad mouth and webbed feet with naked soles and long claws. Its muzzle is long with numerous long whiskers.

The Otter Civet is nocturnal species that obtains its food from the water, feeding on fish, crabs, freshwater mollusks, as well as being able to climb to feed on birds and fruit. Given its rarity and secretive nature it is a very poorly known species. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN.

References

• Mustelid Specialist Group (1996). Cynogale bennettii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN A1ce, C2a v2.3)

Carnivores of Mainland South East Asia, by Budsabong Kanchanasakha, WWF, Bangkok, 1998, ISBN 974-89438-2-8

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