A nocturnal civet of Asian forests and scrub.
The gray or brown body bears dark spots. Black-and-white bands mark the sides of the neck, and dark rings encircle the tail.
One study in Nepal watched a large Indian civet latrine with a camera for 91 nights in December 2016 and February–March 2017. At least two civets visited, mostly between 18:00 and 23:00, though records spanned 18:00 to 06:00. The shaded site was beneath a tree and surrounded by bushes. The authors describe latrines as possible places for scent-based territorial marking and communication.
A second camera-trap study in Nepal’s Parsa–Koshi Complex (December 2022–March 2023) found similar activity times for large and small Indian civets but little overlap between the camera sites where they appeared. Both studies cover limited places and periods. They do not reveal what a scent mark communicates or why the two species used different sites.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global species-level record for Viverra zibetha (2024-2 amended version; underlying assessment dated 2015-03-03)
The IUCN 2024-2 global record lists the Large Indian civet as Least Concern (LC) and is an amended version of the 2016 assessment; the original assessment date was 3 March 2015. The 2016 assessment recorded a decreasing population trend and trade-driven hunting pressure in parts of Lao PDR and Viet Nam. It nevertheless judged that major declines affected a smaller part of the range than areas where the species remained common, supporting LC at the global scale. Regional assessments differ: China's 2015 national assessment classified the species as Vulnerable (VU), while Bangladesh's 2014 assessment classified it as Near Threatened (NT). The Bangladesh profile cited hunting for meat, retaliatory killing and road mortality. Local records and threats therefore matter alongside the global category.