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Monday, June 2, 2008

Otter Civet

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Otter Civet

Otter civet

Cynogale bennettii




Cynogale bennettii Gray, 1837, Sumatra.


English: Water civet; French: Civette-loutre de Sumatra; German: Mampalon; Spanish: Cibeta nutria.


Body length 23–27 in (57–68 cm), tail 5–8 in (13–21 cm), weight 6.5–11 lb (3–5 kg). The body is heavy and compact. The black legs are short and have naked soles and greatly curved claws. All feet are webbed, but the hind legs have less webbing than the forefeet. The broad, flat nose is well supplied with vibrissae. The nasal openings are on top of the nose, and the ears are rounded. The hair is yellowish gray-brown with a black-brown throat and lower lip. The chin and a spot over the eyes are yellowish white.


North Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.


Streams and swampy areas.


Solitary, good climber, but not strong swimmer. Longevity may reach five years.


Crustacens, mollusks, fish, birds, small mammals, and fruits.


Litter size is two to three. Mating system is not known.

From Wikipedia

Wikipedia: Otter Civet
Otter Civet
Conservation status

Endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Viverridae
Subfamily: Hemigalinae
Genus: Cynogale
Species: C. bennettii
Binomial name
Cynogale bennettii
J E Gray, 1837

The Otter Civet, Cynogale bennettii, is an aquatic civet from South East Asia. Sometimes known as the Sunda Otter Civet, it lives in rivers and swampy areas of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java. The otter civet possesses several adaptions to its habitat, including a broad mouth and webbed feet with naked soles and long claws. Its muzzle is long with numerous long whiskers.

The Otter Civet is nocturnal species that obtains its food from the water, feeding on fish, crabs, freshwater mollusks, as well as being able to climb to feed on birds and fruit. Given its rarity and secretive nature it is a very poorly known species. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN.


  • Mustelid Specialist Group (1996). Cynogale bennettii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN A1ce, C2a v2.3)

Carnivores of Mainland South East Asia, by Budsabong Kanchanasakha, WWF, Bangkok, 1998, ISBN 974-89438-2-8

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Fisher Cat Pics

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Fisher Cat

Definition:large, dark brown North American arboreal, carnivorous mammal.

In fact there is no such thing as a fisher cat. It's not actually a cat but rather a member of the weasel family.

There are many theories as to why fishers are so often called fisher cats.
One is that they sometimes hang around barns eating mice, just like a cat would.

Another, is that the old French word for polecat, or fitchew, a European member of the weasel family, was fissau. This later became ficher (and then fisher or fisher cat) in English.

Still another theory is that fishers are widely blamed for devouring housecats that venture out for a stroll in the woods.

The fisher cat is coloured a deep brown and is a richly-furred handsome mammal.

The fisher typically measures between 30 and 41 inches in length.

A fisher cat can grow up to thirty pounds and is much larger than either the mink or the pine marten, two of its close relatives in the weasel family.

The Fisher Cat is a ferocious predator of small game and they are very fast on their feet.

he fisher cat is a resident of dense forests,and is a solitary creature and very elusive.

Few ever get the chance to see a fisher, mainly because they are nocturnal.

However,fisher cats can sometimes be heard calling in the woodlands during their mating season. They have a chilling scream very much like that of high-pitched child

Fishers, which in addition to eating small game will emit a shrill shriek when provoked, enjoy a rather exaggerated reputation as predators.