Despite Singapore’s reputation for both urbanisation and “boring” wildlife (no man-eating tigers!), there still exists a varied ecosystem with all kinds of animals.
Most Singaporeans probably don’t even know what civets are, let alone that they live here.
A lucky poster on the Singapore Wildlife Sightings group actually managed to run into a whole family of them, engaging in some climbing activities.
Family of Civets Waits for Youngest Pup
Ms Maricel Cabanero told Goody Feed that she and her boss Mr Thomas Koh came across the civet family at 9:30 pm on 16 July.
She said that although they were native to Singapore, civets are not easy to find.
However, a group that shared sightings got her to try her luck and that night in an unspecified place in Bukit Merah, she got to see the whole family.
The video showed the entire family perched on the ceiling beams of a covered walkway.
According to Ms Maricel Cabanero, this was the parents and all their children.
Though crowded, they maintained excellent balance on the rounded beams, the young pups jostling for space like me and my siblings used to.
All of them appeared to be glancing downwards at something off-screen.
When the camera panned down, it revealed one last small civet at the bottom, unable to climb up the pillar with them.
Ms Maricel Cabanero suggested that this was the youngest of the family.
In a display of camaraderie that wouldn’t be out of place in a Jack Neo NS movie, the family refused to leave. All of them patiently waited up there.
The little civet squeaked for help from its family, as seen in another video. It remained perched on the walkway railing.
Eventually, the two human spectators decided to lend a hand. They placed a dried palm branch.
The makeshift “ladder” worked, and the young pup was able to climb up there and reunite with the family.
Shy Civets Keep Away from Noisy Humans
Ms Maricel Cabanero told Goody Feed that civets would hide if people made too much noise or got too close.
As such, having a nice encounter required silence, a healthy distance, and a good amount of luck.
Bukit Merah seemed a popular hangout for them, as she also claimed another family of civets lived in the same area.
Unfortunately, Ms Maricel Cabanero and Mr Koh were unable to spot them that day.
Civets are the Best Kopi Makers in Asia?
According to NParks, civets, also known as “musang”, are native nocturnal mammals. They’ve even broken into houses before!
The most common kind in Singapore is the Common Palm Civet, identifiable by its black spots and a black “mask” on its face. They are not cats despite their similar appearance.
Civets like staying in high places like trees or even building roofs. That probably explains the strange family trip destination of this article’s civets.
The cute mammals serve as natural pest control by eating rats and insects and they also disperse seeds through eating fruits and defecating.
In fact, in neighbouring countries, coffee beans that have been eaten and pooped out by civets are made into some of the most expensive coffee in the world!
Most commonly called kopi luwak, it’s dubbed the “Holy Grail of coffees” and can sell for up to S$1,300 per kg for wild-collected beans.
Unfortunately, you probably can’t order this from your local kopitiam.
If you meet a civet, just observe them from afar. Don’t try to chase or pick them up, and don’t even think about trying to feed them coffee beans to start a local business.
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