Island Palm Civet

About the Island Palm Civet

The palm civet found on Borneo, known locally as the 'musang'. It was long lumped into the widespread common (Asian) palm civet, and a 2015 genetic study recommended treating the Philippines, Mentawai and Borneo populations as their own species, Paradoxurus philippinensis. Much of the published natural history comes from the wider group. A greyish civet with three rows of dark spots or streaks, a black muzzle and lower legs, and, most distinctively, a white facial mask: a white forehead patch and white spots beside the nostrils and under each eye. That mask, combined with a plain unringed tail (black on the distal half), is the clearest way to separate it from the similarly spotted Malay civet, whose tail is ringed and which lacks any white facial pattern. Found right across Borneo, from lowland forest to gardens and rooftops.

Nocturnal, with activity peaking from late evening into after midnight and suppressed on bright moonlit nights. Both arboreal and terrestrial, with a diet weighted heavily toward fruit — it is a significant seed disperser for several forest tree species, and is sometimes considered a minor pest around village fruit trees.