African civet
Civettictis civetta (Schreber, 1776)
The African civet (Civettictis civetta), also called the civet, is a mammal of the order Carnivora and the family Viverridae, subfamily Viverrinae. It is a medium-sized, nocturnal and terrestrial animal with an adult body mass of 12 kg and up to 13.67 kg.
Quick facts about the African civet
Its diet category is carnivore and its trophic level is omnivore. Gestation lasts 68.4 days, litters hold 1 to 4 young, and the species is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 12 kg – 13.7 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 28 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest, woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 60 days – 81 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7 months – 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2.2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the African civet
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the African civet live?
Not recorded
What is the African civet?
The African civet (Civettictis civetta) is a large viverrid native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is considered common and widely distributed in woodlands and secondary forests. It has been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. In some countries, it is threatened by hunting, and wild-caught individuals are kept for producing civetone for the perfume industry.
The African civet is primarily nocturnal and spends the day sleeping in dense vegetation, but wakes up at sunset. It is a solitary mammal with a unique coloration: the black and white blotches covering its coarse pelage and rings on the tail are an effective cryptic pattern. The black bands surrounding its eyes closely resemble those of the raccoon. Other distinguishing features are its disproportionately large hindquarters and its erectile dorsal crest. It is an omnivorous generalist, preying on small vertebrates, invertebrates, eggs, carrion, and vegetable matter. It is one of the few carnivores capable of eating toxic invertebrates such as termites and millipedes. It detects prey primarily by smell and sound rather than by sight. It is the only living member of the genus Civettictis.
From the Wikipedia article “African civet” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_civet&oldid=1382821757), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the African civet endangered?
The African civet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the African civet classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyViverridae
- genusCivettictis
- SpeciesCivettictis civetta (Schreber, 1776)
Synonyms Viverra civetta
Other names and names in other languages (31)
- CivetEnglish
- SiwetkatAfrikaans
- Afrika-siwetAfrikaans
- Afrikaanse SiwetAfrikaans
- زباد أفريقيArabic
- Африканска циветаBulgarian
- cibetka africkáCzech
- Afrikansk desmerkatDanish
- Afrika ZibetkatzeGerman
- Afrikanische ZibetkatzeGerman
- Αφρικανικό ΣιβέτGreek
- JinetaSpanish
- Civeta africanaSpanish
- afrikansivettiFinnish
- La CivetteFrench
- Civette africaineFrench
- Civette d'AfriqueFrench
- Civette d’AfriqueFrench
- Afrikai cibetmacskaHungarian
- Zibetto africanoItalian
- アフリカジャコウネコJapanese
- AfrikasivettNorwegian Bokmål
- Afrikaanse CivetkatDutch
- cyweta afrykańskaPolish
- Civeta-africanaPortuguese
- Африканская циветаRussian
- FungoSwahili
- ชะมดแอฟริกาThai
- Afrika ViverrasıTurkish
- TshipaloreTswana
- 非洲靈貓Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the African civet
Other species in the same family Viverridae.
Binturong
Arctictis binturong
Asian palm civet
Paradoxurus hermaphroditus
Masked palm civet
Paguma larvata
Large Indian civet
Viverra zibetha
Common genet
Genetta genetta
Otter civet
Cynogale bennettii
CompareAfrican civet vs BinturongAfrican civet vs Asian palm civetAfrican civet vs Masked palm civetAfrican civet vs Large Indian civet
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the African civet?
The African civet is a mammal in the order Carnivora, suborder Feliformia and family Viverridae.
How heavy is the African civet?
The African civet has an adult body mass of 12 kg, with values up to 13.67 kg reported by our sources.
What does the African civet eat?
The African civet's diet category is carnivore, and its trophic level is omnivore.
Is the African civet endangered?
No. The African civet is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the African civet live?
The African civet has a lifespan of 28 years.
How many young does the African civet have?
The African civet has 2.31 young per litter, from 1 to 4, and 2.2 litters per year. Gestation lasts 68.4 days.
When does the African civet reach sexual maturity?
The African civet reaches sexual maturity at 289 days, with values from 213 to 365 days reported by our sources.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). African civet (Civettictis civetta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-civet
“African civet (Civettictis civetta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-civet.
@misc{african_civet_2026,
title = {African civet (Civettictis civetta)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-civet},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}