by Shyamala Ratnayeke
Page 3 : Civets
The family Viverridae is represented by three species in Sri Lanka. All three species are very nocturnal and are sympatric (occur in the same geographic area) in some jungles of Sri Lanka, such as those in Wasgomuwa National Park. The civets also tend to coexist well with humans, the common palm civet often being a rather unwelcome resident in the roofs of houses. The golden palm civet is endemic to Sri Lanka. The color of its short woolly coat may vary from a beautiful light golden to a reddish brown. Some individuals may be chocolate brown, but distinguishable from the common palm civet by the lighter colored tail. Both species of palm civets are well-adapted for climbing trees and not quite as carnivorous as the terrestrial small Indian civet, the latter being one of the most abundant and cosmopolitan of Sri Lanka’s carnivoran species. Like the North American raccoon, civets are generalists, with a broad diet that includes fruit, arthropods, small vertebrates, snails and eggs. Despite their arboreal and fruit-eating tendencies, palm civets will actively hunt and consume small vertebrates on the ground. Civets average between 2 kg (females) and 3.5 kg (males), with palm civets being slightly heavier than the small Indian civet.
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