Monthly Archives: September 2012

Dempsey baby civets rescue

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We received word on 30th Aug 2012, Thursday evening about baby civets found near Dempsey Hill. This was different from the usual rescue cases at the eastern part of Singapore, eg. Siglap. The young civets were found behind the rubbish bin and they were calling loudly. Both soon fell asleep as civets are nocturnal creatures and only wake at dusk.

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The family managed to get help from ACRES on how to care and help rehabilitate the civets.  They provided shelter for the civets and some food so that the civets do not go hungry.

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The following evening, the young civets were left at the spot where they were discovered in the hope that the mummy civet would come to take them back. Unfortunately, the mother did not return. The next morning, ACRES was contacted and they took the two young civets to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore to be cared of and once they are large and healthy enough, they will be released back to the wild!

All photos were contributed by the Jones family, thank you very much for making a difference and caring for these two babies!

Have you seen this animal at Portsdown?

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For the past few years, urban civet studies have been conducted mainly in the eastern side of Singapore, along Upper East Coast Road, with sightings concentrated around Siglap, Opera Estate, Bedok and Tanah Merah areas.

Since 2011, we have been getting civet sightings in another suburban area in Singapore from a special group –Tanglin Halt Wildlife Watch. This is a group of wildlife enthusiasts who live in the Portsdown, Tanglin Halt & Wessex Estate area who occasionally spot civets in their neighbourhood. Of the several photos of the Portsdown civets being posted, one of the post was of a civet hiding among the vegetation and another was a unfortunate roadkill.

Genevieve Yeo, a new Honours student, will be embarking on a project to study the ecology of the civets at Portsdown. This is important work as we need to fill in the knowledge gaps in order to better understand these urban animals. Are the Siglap and Portsdown civets similar in terms of diet and activity patterns? All these and more will be investigated by Genevieve!

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What is the civet eating? The diet might vary from site to site. (Photo by Genevieve Yeo)


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Photo of Genevieve’s first civet sighting in Portsdown. If you see civets around Singapore, please let us know!

Research work on urban fauna is highly vital as firstly, the information contributes to the management of the species including human-civet conflict and secondly, it helps in the management of the habitats that they live in. If you spot a civet, we really appreciate if you drop us a sighting record here or if you are interested to learn more about research, you can sign up as field assistant for Genevieve’s surveys.