Scientific name :Viverra civettina (Blyth)
Order :Carnivora
Family:Viverridae

Status :
IWPA - Schedule I.   CITES - Appendix III .
Red Data Book (India)-Endangered.  IUCN - Critically Endangered.
U.S.ESA - Endangered.

Common names : English        - Malabar Civet
                              Kannada     - Male meru, Balkutru
                              Malayalum  - Jawad
                              Tamil          - Jawad

Group : Civet

Measurements : Head and body -
                            750 to 800 mm.
                              Tail -
                            320 to 350 mm.

Body weight : 8 kg.

Head : Grey; base of ears little darker; dark mark on the  cheek. Muzzle pointed.

Hands and feet : Dark to brown. Soles almost naked.

Tail : Incompletely ringed with dark bands and whitish interspaces, but tip black.

Body : Fur coarse. Grey   tawny or yellowish with a  crest of  black hairs or bristles on the back from  neck to tail tip.Large black spots on the flank but   without  any  pattern. Two obliquely  transverse dark lines on   whitish    neck. Chin brown. Under  surface  pale brown to whitish.

Range : India - Endemic to South India. Karnataka,  Kerala and  Tamil Nadu.  Probably also in Goa and Maharashtra.

Habitat : Lowland riparian forests of plains and foot hills.

Threats : Hunting; Loss of habitat due to fragmentation; Predation by domestic dog.

Similar species : Viverricula indica, Viverra zibetha  and Viverra megaspila of India and  South east Asian Countries.

Indian subspecies : None