Small Mammal Conservation & Science
SARS and Civets
May 30, 2003
Scientists in Hong Kong recently identified the SARS virus in samples taken from masked palm civets, suggesting the virus may have jumped from these animals to people.
These small carnivores are eaten as delicacies by many people in southern China and, even though they are a protected species in China, are commonly sold in meat markets. If there’s any good news associated with this new disease, it is that the Chinese government has vowed to close down the sale of masked palm civets and, it is hoped, other rare or endangered species as well.
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A masked palm civet (Paguma larvata). |
Sometimes called civet cats, these 8-to-11 pound animals are not in the cat family, Felidae, but rather in another carnivore family called the Viverridae. Species in this family are all native to Asia or Africa and so are little known to most Americans.
The masked palm civet is widely distributed in Asia, from from India to Indochina and the Malay Peninsula, much of eastern and southern China, and on the Andaman Islands, Taiwan, Hainan, Sumatra, and Borneo. It eats fruit as well as small vertebrates and insects, and the mostly solitary individuals are active at night.
