The African palm civet is a nocturnal forest-dwelling mammal of Africa. It eats fruit often, but also takes small animals, making it an omnivore.
It has a slender body and long tail, with gray-brown fur marked by dark spots.
The African Palm Civet lives on Unguja Island in the Zanzibar archipelago of Tanzania. In September 2017, researchers placed camera traps in Jozani–Chwaka Bay National Park and Kiwengwa–Pongwe Forest Reserve and obtained the first video footage of the species on the island. Its presence there had been reported in print in 2004.
The 2017 cameras also recorded the Zanzibar Slender Mongoose and Zanzibar Bushy-tailed Mongoose. Follow-up trapping at Jozani–Chwaka Bay in August 2018 again filmed the African Palm Civet and the endemic Zanzibar Servaline Genet. Neither year produced images of the African Civet or the two introduced species mentioned in the article.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The paper reports that remaining natural habitat on Unguja is shrinking and becoming fragmented. The authors say documenting the island’s carnivores and other fauna is important for developing sound conservation measures.