Common Palm Civet

The Asian palm civet has a short, coarse black or grey coat with black-tipped guard hairs, dark stripes down the back and three rows of black spots along each side. The face is banded with white patches and the tail is black-tipped and unringed. Head and body measure about 53cm with a 48cm tail, and weight is 2 to 5kg (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia, including Nepal, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh. It is nocturnal, arboreal and solitary, and eats mostly fruit, including figs, palm fruit, mangoes and bananas, plus rats, birds, insects, reptiles and eggs. Gestation is about 60 days with litters of two to five (Animal Diversity Web, as reported in a related account). Nationally Least Concern (Nepal National Red List 2011).