Mammals

Civet

Viverridae · also called civets

Least Concern ↓ omnivorecarnivore Temperate forest Rainforest Savanna & grassland

A civet is a small, cat-like night-hunter that has become tangled up in two very different human stories: the perfume counter and the coffee shop. Its musky scent-gland secretion once perfumed the world’s finest fragrances, and its Asian relative’s partially digested coffee cherries became one of the most expensive drinks on Earth — a trade whose booming demand has left many civets caged and force-fed.

Overview

Civets are the family Viverridae, small nocturnal carnivores of Africa and South and Southeast Asia, cat-like in shape but from an older branch of the carnivore family tree that split off before true cats evolved. They are omnivores, eating fruit, insects, small vertebrates, and eggs, and palm civets in particular are important seed dispersers for tropical trees.

Musk, coffee, and disease

Civet scent-gland secretion was prized for centuries as a perfume fixative, now mostly replaced by synthetics. The Asian palm civet partially digests ripe coffee cherries, and the beans recovered from its droppings become kopi luwak, one of the priciest coffees in the world — though demand has driven civets into cages and force-feeding. Masked palm civets sold in Chinese wildlife markets were also identified as a likely intermediate host in the 2002–03 SARS outbreak.

Status

Least Concern for most widespread species, but several forest and island specialists — the Malabar civet and the peat-swamp otter civet among them — are Endangered or Critically Endangered from deforestation and hunting.

Civet: common questions

Is a civet a cat?

No, despite a superficially similar lithe, spotted, long-tailed appearance. A civet belongs to the family Viverridae, which diverged from the rest of the carnivore order before the cat family, Felidae, evolved, so civets retain a more generalised body plan and tooth arrangement closer to that of early carnivorans, rather than the specialised retractable claws and shortened jaw of a true cat. They are, roughly speaking, a more primitive branch of the carnivore family tree that happens to resemble cats through a broadly similar predatory lifestyle rather than close relationship.

What is kopi luwak, and is it ethical to drink?

Kopi luwak is coffee made from beans that have passed through the digestive tract of an Asian palm civet, which eats ripe coffee cherries and partially digests the surrounding pulp before the beans are excreted, collected, cleaned, and roasted, a process claimed to change the flavour and that has made the coffee extremely expensive. The ethical problem is that demand for it has grown far beyond what wild-collected droppings can supply, so much of the coffee sold today comes from civets kept in small cages and force-fed cherries in conditions widely criticised by animal welfare organisations, meaning a buyer cannot easily be sure whether a given batch came from a wild or a caged, mistreated animal.

Why is civet used in perfume?

The secretion from a civet's scent glands has a powerful, musky odour that, once diluted and blended, was found centuries ago to help other fragrance notes in a perfume last much longer on the skin, acting as what perfumers call a fixative. Civet was collected, historically often from civets kept in captivity specifically for the purpose, and traded internationally for this use for hundreds of years. Concerns about the welfare of captive civets and the availability of effective synthetic musk substitutes have led most major perfume makers to largely replace natural civet with laboratory-made alternatives, though a small traditional trade persists in some regions.

How were civets connected to the SARS outbreak?

During the 2002 to 2003 SARS outbreak, researchers found a coronavirus very similar to the human SARS virus in masked palm civets being sold, along with many other wild animals, in live-animal markets in southern China, leading them to identify the civet as a likely intermediate host that helped the virus adapt from its original source in bats before jumping to people in close contact with the animals. This did not mean civets were the ultimate natural reservoir, which is thought to be certain bat species, but the finding was significant enough that authorities ordered mass culls of farmed civets and temporarily banned the wildlife trade in the region in an effort to prevent a similar spillover happening again.

Sources & further reading

Written by HideShark Editorial Team · reviewed by HideShark Science Desk. Published September 11, 2026. Last updated September 11, 2026.

Quick facts

Scientific name: Viverridae
Diet: An omnivore eating fruit, insects, small mammals, birds and their eggs, reptiles, and carrion, with palm civets in particular relying heavily on ripe fruit and playing an important role in dispersing the seeds of many tropical trees through their droppings
Not really a cat: Civets belong to the family Viverridae, a lineage that split off from other carnivorans before the cat family evolved, and although they have a similar lithe, long-bodied, cat-like appearance, they keep a more generalised skeleton and dentition closer to the ancestral carnivore body plan than true cats do
The source of civet musk: Both sexes have large perineal glands that produce a thick, waxy, strongly musky secretion, historically collected, sometimes from captive or farmed civets, and used for centuries as a fixative in perfume to make other scents last longer on the skin, a use now largely replaced by synthetic substitutes
The world's most expensive coffee: The Asian palm civet eats ripe coffee cherries, and enzymes in its digestive tract partially break down the pulp before the beans pass through and are collected from its droppings, washed, and roasted into kopi luwak, marketed as one of the most expensive coffees in the world, though the surge in demand has led to civets being caged and force-fed cherries under poor conditions to meet supply
Linked to the SARS outbreak: Masked palm civets sold live in wildlife markets in southern China were identified as a likely intermediate host that helped a coronavirus jump from bats to people during the 2002 to 2003 SARS outbreak, a finding that led to mass culls of farmed civets and temporary bans on the wildlife trade in the affected region
Mostly solitary and nocturnal: Civets are largely solitary, territorial, and active at night, spending the day resting in a den, hollow tree, or dense vegetation, and different species range from largely ground-dwelling African civets to the more agile, partly arboreal Asian palm civets that move confidently through the canopy
A defensive spray of their own: When alarmed, several civets can forcibly expel a strong-smelling secretion from the same scent glands used to mark territory, a defensive tactic broadly similar in principle, though generally less potent, to the spray of a skunk
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, in tropical and subtropical forest, rainforest, savanna woodland, and increasingly farmland, plantations, and forest edge, with different species specialised for ground-dwelling life in open country and more arboreal life in dense forest canopy.
Conservation status: Least Concern ↓ ≈ Most civet species are reasonably widespread across their African and Asian ranges and are assessed as Least Concern, tolerating a degree of forest disturbance and even farmland and plantation edge in the case of some Asian palm civets. Several forest-dependent and island-restricted species, however, are of real concern, including the Malabar civet of India's Western Ghats, feared close to extinction, and the otter civet of Southeast Asian peat swamp forest, both Critically Endangered or Endangered from deforestation, wetland drainage, and hunting. The civet coffee trade has also raised significant animal welfare concerns, since much of the supply now comes from civets kept in cramped cages and force-fed coffee cherries rather than from genuinely wild-sourced droppings in the wild

Overview

Musk, coffee, and disease

Status

Civet: common questions

Sources & further reading

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