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Order : CARNIVORA
Family : Viverridae
Species : Diplogale hosei
Head-body length : up to 50 cm
Tail length : up to 32 cm
Weight : up to 3 kg
Hose's Civet is one of the most elusive and
least-understood species of civet in Southeast Asia. It is endemic to
Borneo, and is only patchily distributed on that island.
A predictive study of the possible range of Hose's Civet suggests that much
less than 10% of the land area of Borneo may contain this species, namely
the mountainous region in the north. Within this area, there are a number of
confirmed records from Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah, but limited records from
Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).
Significant efforts are being made to study this rare civet by a research
project (HOSCAP Borneo)
in a logging concession in the Upper Baram, Sarawak, where it is often
photographed by automatically-triggered trail cameras (Mathai et al, 2010).
Data published in 2010 from this ongoing study have shown Hose's Civet to be
largely nocturnal, but also active towards dusk (i.e. partly crepuscular).
It appears to occur mainly in undisturbed or unlogged montane forest,
however the degree to which it has been lost from adjacent lowland
forests, due to logging, habitat fragmentation and indiscriminate hunting,
appears unclear. Phillipps & Phillipps (2016) quote an altitudinal range of
325 to 1700 metres.
This unique civet is dark brown to very dark grey, with pale underparts. Its
body shape and size is similar to the Banded
Civet (which also occurs on Borneo) i.e. relatively slender and with a
head that is relatively small and pointed. Its tail is long and thick.
Little is known about the ecology of Hose's Civet. Its diet may comprise a
range of small vertebrates (possibly frogs, crabs, shrimps, fish etc.): this
is inferred from its long whiskers and partly webbed feet, which may
indicate that it forages along rocky, forest streams (Mathai et al, 2016).
Figs 1 and 2 : Trail camera image from Upper Baram area, Sarawak. Photos thanks to J. Mathai /
HOSCAP Borneo.
References :
Mathai, J., Brodie, J., Giordano, A., Alfred, R., Belant, J. L.,
Kramer-Schadt, S. & Wilting, A. (2016). Predicted distribution of Hose's
civet Diplogale hosei (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) on Borneo.
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 33: 118-125.
Mathai, J., Duckworth, J.W., Wilting, A., Hearn, A. & Brodie, J. 2015.
Diplogale hosei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015:
e.T6635A45197564.
Mathai, J., Hon, J., Juat, N., Peter, A., & Gumal, M. (2010). Small
carnivores in a logging concession in the Upper Baram, Sarawak, Borneo.
Small Carnivore Conservation, 42: 1-9.
Phillipps Q. & Phillipps K. (2016). Phillipps’ Field Guide to the
Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and
Kalimantan. Second Edition. John Beaufoy Publishing. 400 pp.
Links :
HOSCAP Borneo

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