African civet

Oct. 18 2014

Civet ID

African Civet surely?

You lucky, lucky bastard

This is undoubtably an African Civet.

Thanks FBBird and TLD ! Checked Zootierliste and someone already added it for De Paay ! Didn't realize it was that rare in Europe !

vogelcommando said:

Thanks FBBird and TLD ! Checked Zootierliste and someone already added it for De Paay ! Didn't realize it was that rare in Europe !

Click to expand...

Whoever it was used this thread as the citation for the addition, too

This is one of many species, common in the wild, that has become rare in European zoos as they concentrated on endangered species. Jersey used to breed shedloads of African Civets back in the day.

It does baffle me how this species, quite widespread in the 1970s (unsurprisingly, as Jersey bred them like rabbits) came to vanish from the UK. Jersey never did use that gained experience with a rarer viverrid. What a waste.

Where in the zoo are they kept? I am planning to visit this weekend, also any sign of lesser grison / giant squirrel?

In the corner where the camels have their indoor-stable and behind the aviary of the Caracaras. I guess it's best to ask one of the keepers ( which are VERY friendly ! ) because they are in a shed normaly not open to the public.
The Grison stoke its head for a few seconds out of it's indoor enclosure and the Giant squirrels I didn't see at all ! Wish you more luck on you visit and let us know what you saw.

Assuming the person who edited ZTL is correct, the civets have now left the collection

However, I suspect this is not accurate - it is more likely someone did not see the animals signposted and removed them as a current listing.