African Palm Civet
( two-spotted palm civet )
- Nandinia binotata
- IUCN Status: Least Concern
- Trend: uncomfirmed
General Information
The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata) is a small feliform mammal widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa.
Description
The African palm civet is grey to dark brown with dark spots on the back. It has short legs, small ears, a lean body, and a long, ringed tail. It has two sets of scent glands on the lower abdomen and between the third and fourth toes on each foot, which secrete a strong-smelling substance used to mark territory and in mating. Adult females reach a body length of 37–61 cm with a 34–70 cm long tail and weigh 1.2–2.7 kg. Adult males reach 39.8–62.5 cm in body length with a 43–76.2 cm long tail and weigh 1.3–3 kg.
The African palm civet’s ear canal is not divided and cartilaginous at the end.
Ecology & Behaviour
The African palm civet is a nocturnal, largely arboreal mammal that spends most of the time on large branches, among lianas in the canopy of trees. It eats fruits such as those of the African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides), Uapaca, persimmon (Diospyros hoyleana), fig trees (Ficus), papayas (Carica papaya), and bananas (Musa).
Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha and females of 29–70 ha. The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.
In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January. The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female’s mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets’ fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females. Its generation length is 7.8 years.
Distribution & Habitat
Diet
The African palm civet is a nocturnal, largely arboreal mammal that spends most of the time on large branches, among lianas in the canopy of trees. It eats fruits such as those of the African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides), Uapaca, persimmon (Diospyros hoyleana), fig trees (Ficus), papayas (Carica papaya), and bananas (Musa).
Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha and females of 29–70 ha. The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.
In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January. The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female’s mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets’ fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females. Its generation length is 7.8 years.
Reproduction
The African palm civet is a nocturnal, largely arboreal mammal that spends most of the time on large branches, among lianas in the canopy of trees. It eats fruits such as those of the African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides), Uapaca, persimmon (Diospyros hoyleana), fig trees (Ficus), papayas (Carica papaya), and bananas (Musa).
Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha and females of 29–70 ha. The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.
In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January. The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female’s mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets’ fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females. Its generation length is 7.8 years.
Conservation
The African palm civet is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. In 2006, an estimated more than 4,300 African palm civets are hunted yearly in the Nigerian part and around 3,300 in the Cameroon part of the Cross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests.
In Guinea, dead African palm civets were recorded in spring 1997 on bushmeat market in villages located in the vicinity of the National Park of Upper Niger. Dried heads of African palm civets were found in 2007 at the Bohicon and Dantokpa Markets in southern Benin, suggesting that they are used as fetish in animal rituals. The attitude of rural people in Ghana towards African palm civets is hostile; they consider them a menace to their food resources and safety of children. In Gabon, it is among the most frequently found small carnivores for sale in bushmeat markets. Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot. They have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are threatened by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.
Share:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Carnivora
- Suborder: Feliformia
- Family: Nandiniidae
- Genus: Nandinia
- Length: up to 62.5 cm
- Weight: 1 to 3 kg
- Tail Length: 40 to 76.2 cm
