The most common of the civet species, the Common Palm Civet is shy and nocturnal, often hiding amongst the trees to evade predators, living a predominantly solitary life, and only socialising to mate — after which, they go their separate ways. They are perfectly adapted to survival among the trees with their elongated bodies, short legs, long black-tipped tail, short coarse fur (usually black or grey with black-tipped guard hairs), and banded faces with large eyes and ears.

Despite being a predominantly silent animal, during breeding season, Common Palm Civets sometimes make a laughing sound, like hyenas. They can also find mates using scent markings from their anal glands, which can tell others everything they need to know (age, sex, receptivity, kin relationship, if they are familiar, etc). 

When they eventually do meet, they will go to the same resting tree and continuously mate for up to 15 days! After 60 days, the mother will birth around 2-to-5 young (called kittens). Kittens are small, only weighing around 80 grams, born with eyes closed and fur all over their bodies. At 11 days, their eyes open; by 2 months they are weaned, and after 3 months they are fully grown; however, they do not reach sexual maturity until 1 year old. As they’re so secretive, we’re not entirely sure how civet parenting works, but it’s thought that the mother raises them alone. The only reason we know as much as we do is thanks to captive breeding programs in zoos.

Like raccoons, Common Palm Civets are omnivores and very resourceful, essentially eating whatever is available to them. They are agile hunters, carefully stalking prey before pouncing — much like cats. The civets also dig the ground for insects and worms, and scavenge carrion; however, they seem to have a particular liking for fruits — particularly those that grow on palm trees, which is how they got their name!

It’s thought that levels of predation and availability to food determine their social organisation and activity. Active from dusk until dawn (more-so on darker nights), they spend the majority of their time hunting for food, with short rests or comfort behaviours (like grooming) in between, before eventually finding a resting site — usually a tree hole to curl up in. If food supplies are reliable in their area, they often return to the same tree hole every day.

Common Palm Civets also have a strong association with coffee, as they enjoy eating coffee cherries. When they digest them, the coffee beans undergo a fermentation process, before eventually being defected. Their faeces (poop) are then often collected by humans, who use them to make the very popular Kopi Luwak coffee. 

Unfortunately, because of Kopi Luwak’s increasing trend, people began capturing civets to farm in order to keep up with demand. Oftentimes, civets are held in cramped, barren, and filthy battery cages, forced to feed only on coffee cherries. While it’s possible to buy “Wild Luwak” — which claims to only be collected from wild-roaming civets — an investigation by the BBC found that this may not be the case; they exposed many “wild” suppliers to be using farms, and some coffee companies have admitted that they are unable to determine for sure whether or not their supplies came from wild or captive civets.