10 Owston’s palm civets born in captive environment

Owston’s palm civet is an endangered animal. — Photo from Save Việt Nam’s Wildlife

HÀ NỘI — Ten Owston’s palm civets were born at the Cúc Phương National Park in the north of Việt Nam under a captive breeding programme jointly implemented by the park and Save Việt Nam’s Wildlife (SVW), the SVW said on June 18.

This is the biggest success so far in the captive breeding of the endangered animal, expected to help revive its population in the nature.

Trần Văn Trường, a coordinator at the SVW, said the baby civets have been monitored around the clock via a camera system and human impact also minimised to ensure their safety.

According to SVW Director Nguyễn Văn Thái, the organisation is striving to seek additional resources and promote cooperation with domestic agencies to improve genetic diversity for the Owston’s palm civet population in the captive environment, aiming to return the captive-bred mammals to the nature in the next 3-4 years.

It is also calling for intensifying measures to handle poaching as well as strengthening patrols to protect the species and its natural habitat.

Owston’s palm civet (Chrotogale owstoni) was categorised on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Redlist as endangered in 2016. The species is native to Việt Nam, Laos, and a very small portion of southern China.

Its population in the nature has been shrinking considerably due to poaching and smuggling. — VNS