A SURVEY OF CIVET CATS IN A SEMI-URBAN HABITAT IN TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Malaysia is home to 11 civet cat species. However, there is not much information regarding these viverrids, especially in semi-urban areas. Thus, a survey of civet cats was conducted in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), a semi-urban area in one of the east coast states. UMT was chosen as it has an attractive semi-urban habitat as there are mangroves and a beach in the area. A 30- cage trapping method was utilised in the seven-month survey, beginning September 2009 until January 2010. A total of 13 individuals of the common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) were captured, consisting of an individual male and 12 females. From the 13 individuals, seven were adults and the remaining were juveniles. Banana was found to be the most preferred bait as 12 individuals (92.3%) were caught in the banana-baited trap while the salted fish bait only procured one adult female (7.7%). The study indicates that although a forest-dwelling species, the common palm civet is able to adapt to urbanization and habitat disturbance. More studies are needed to determine the common palm civet distribution, home range and population sizes in Terengganu for baseline data of the species.