Dispatches From The Field

30 July, 2003 -- Luke Dollar

Civets!

Today we caught another of Ankarafantsika’s carnivores, Viverricula indica, the Small Indian Civet. Viverricula are an introduced species that have a reputation as very competent invaders of ecosystems throughout Asia and Africa. Part of our research focuses on how invasive species impact the behavior and ecology of endemic carnivores. So far, we’ve learned that Viverricula invade degraded habitats, often near regular human activity and actively defend their newfound territory by both thoroughly exploiting almost all prey items and also by reproducing very quickly – and therefore creating a higher density of these non-endemic invaders.

After Shaun (Central Missouri State University, soon to be at Auburn) brought him in and processed him – the civet was a male – we released him unscathed, save for a new radiocollar. We’ll be tracking “Charlemagne” (we name all civets after famous invaders in history) over the next years to better learn exactly what habitats they use and in what way their niches overlap with the endemic biodiversity of Ankarafantsika.

-Luke Dollar