Civets
African Civet, Civettictis civetta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Viverridae in part
Genera
Chrotogale Cynogale Diplogale Hemigalus Arctogalidia Macrogalidia Paguma Paradoxurus Civettictis Viverra Viverricula

A civet ( /ˈsɪvɨt/) is a small, lithe-bodied, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different mammal species. Most of the species diversity is found in southeast Asia. The most well-known civet species is the African Civet, Civettictis civetta, which historically has been the main species from which was obtained a musky scent used in perfumery. The word civet may also refer to the distinctive musky scent produced by the animals.

Civets are also called "toddycats" in English and "musang" in Malay. The latter may lead to some confusion as "musang" also refers to foxes, but civets are more commonly encountered by humans.

Taxonomy[link]

The common name is used for a variety of carnivorous mammalian species, mostly of the family Viverridae. (The African Palm Civet (Nandinia binotata) is genetically distinct and belongs in its own monotypic family, Nandiniidae).

Physical characteristics[link]

Illustration of an African Civet

Civets have a broadly cat-like general appearance, though the muzzle is extended and often pointed, rather like an otter or a mongoose. They range in length from about 17 to 28 in (43 to 71 cm) (excluding their long tails) and in weight from about 3 to 10 lb (1.4 to 4.5 kg).

The civet produces a musk (also called civet) highly valued as a fragrance and stabilizing agent for perfume. Both male and female civets produce the strong-smelling secretion, which is produced by the civet's perineal glands. It is harvested by either killing the animal and removing the glands, or by scraping the secretions from the glands of a live animal. The latter is the preferred method today.

Animal rights groups, such as the World Society for the Protection of Animals, express concern that harvesting musk is cruel to animals. Between these ethical concerns and the availability of synthetic substitutes, the practice of raising civets for musk is dying out. Chanel, maker of the popular perfume Chanel No. 5, claims that natural civet has been replaced with a synthetic substitute since 1998.^[1]

Habitat[link]

Viverrids are native to Africa (except the area immediately south of the Mediterranean), Madagascar, the Iberian Peninsula, southern China, South and Southeast Asia. Favoured habitats include woodland, savanna, and mountain biomes and, above all, tropical rainforest. In consequence, many are faced with severe loss of habitat; several species are considered vulnerable and the Otter Civet is classified as endangered. Some species of civet are very rare and elusive and hardly anything is known about them, e.g., the Hose's Civet, endemic to the montane forests of northern Borneo, is one of the world's least known carnivores.^[2]

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh[link]

In Sri Lanka, the Asian palm civet species is known as "Uguduwa" by the Sinhala speaking community. The terms Uguduwa and Kalawedda are used interchangeably by the Sri Lankan community to refer to the same animal. However, the term Kalawedda is mostly used to refer to another species in the civet family, the Small Indian Civet. Sri Lanka also has an endemic civet species called Golden Palm Civet. In Bangladesh and in Bangla speaking areas of India this animal is known as "Khatash" and is now extremely rare in all parts of Bangladesh.

Relationship with humans[link]

Coffee[link]

Kopi Luwak, also known as caphe cut chon (fox-dung coffee) in Vietnam and kape alamid in the Philippines, is coffee that is prepared using coffee cherries that have been eaten and partially digested by the Asian Palm Civet, then harvested from its fecal matter.^[3][4] The civets digest the flesh of the coffee cherries but pass the beans inside, leaving their stomach enzymes to go to work on the beans, which adds to the coffee's prized aroma and flavor.^[3] Only around 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of civet coffee make it to the market each year, and 1 pound (0.45 kg) can cost up to $600 in some parts of the world and about $100 a cup in others.^[5]

Pets[link]

Some of the indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia, the Orang Asli, may occasionally keep pet civets.

Urban environments[link]

Palm civets often venture into urban and suburban environments, with people often complaining about civet feces or noise from the animals climbing on roofs ^[6]. Some studies have undertaken to examine and mitigate human-animal conflict in these cases. The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity at the National University of Singapore has adopted the palm civet as its mascot and volunteers call themselves "Toddycats"

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)[link]

There has been some speculation that the source of SARS-CoV, which had a significant outbreak in Asia in 2003, can be traced back to a particular species of civet, the Masked Palm Civet.^[7]

References[link]

Look up civet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

External links[link]

• Raising Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica)^{[dead link]} website www.vietlinh.vn

Ho Chi Minh
Portrait c. 1946
Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam
In office 19 February 1951 – 2 September 1969
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Post abolished
First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Vietnam
In office 1 November 1956 – 10 September 1960
Preceded by	Trường Chinh
Succeeded by	Lê Duẩn
President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
In office 2 September 1945 – 2 September 1969
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tôn Đức Thắng
Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
In office 2 September 1945 – 20 September 1955
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Phạm Văn Đồng
Personal details
Born	Nguyễn Sinh Cung (1890-05-19)19 May 1890 Nghệ An Province, French Indochina
Died	2 September 1969(1969-09-02) (aged 79) Hanoi, Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Nationality	Vietnamese
Political party	Workers’ Party of Vietnam
Signature

This article contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of chữ Nôm, chữ Hán and chữ Quốc Ngữ.

Hồ Chí Minh (Vietnamese pronunciation: [hô cǐ miɲ] (Vietnamese pronunciation: [hô̤ tɕǐmɪŋ] ( listen)); 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Stalinist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng (NLF or VC) during the Vietnam War.

He led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Điện Biên Phủ. He officially stepped down from power in 1955 due to health problems, but remained a highly visible figurehead and inspiration for Vietnamese fighting for his cause – a united, independent Vietnam – until his death. After the war, Saigon, the capital of Republic of Vietnam, was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City in his honor.

Early life[link]

Nguyễn Sinh Cung was born in 1890 in the village of Hoàng Trù, his mother's hometown. From 1895, he grew up in his father's hometown of Kim Liên, Nam Đàn, Nghệ An Province. He had three siblings: his sister Bạch Liên (or Nguyễn Thị Thanh), a clerk in the French Army; his brother Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm (or Nguyễn Tất Đạt), a geomancer and traditional herbalist; and another brother (Nguyễn Sinh Nhuận) who died in his infancy. As a young child, Nguyễn studied with his father before more formal classes with a scholar named Vuong Thuc Do. Nguyễn quickly mastered Chinese writing, a requisite for any serious study of Confucianism, while honing his colloquial Vietnamese writing.^[1] In addition to his studious endeavors, he was fond of adventure, and loved to fly kites and go fishing.^[1] Following Confucian tradition, at the age of 10, his father gave him a new name: Nguyễn Tất Thành (“Nguyễn the Accomplished”).

Nguyễn’s father, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, was a Confucian scholar and teacher, and later an imperial magistrate in the small remote district of Binh Khe (Qui Nhơn). He was demoted for abuse of power after an influential local figure died several days after receiving 100 strokes of the cane as punishment for an infraction.^[2] In deference to his father, Nguyễn received a French education, attended lycée in Huế, the alma mater of his later disciples, Phạm Văn Đồng and Võ Nguyên Giáp. He later left his studies and chose to teach at Dục Thanh school in Phan Thiết.

In the USA[link]

In 1911, working as the cook's helper on a ship, Nguyễn traveled to the United States. From 1912-13, he lived in New York (Harlem) and Boston, where he worked as a baker at the Parker House Hotel. Among a series of menial jobs, he claimed to have worked for a wealthy family in Brooklyn between 1917–18, and for General Motors as a line manager. It is believed that, while in the United States, he made contact with Korean nationalists, an experience that developed his political outlook.^[3]

In England[link]

At various points between 1913 and 1919, Nguyễn lived in West Ealing, and later in Crouch End, Hornsey. He reportedly worked as a chef at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing.^[4] It is claimed that Nguyễn trained as a pastry chef under Auguste Escoffier at the Carlton Hotel in the Haymarket, Westminster, but there is no evidence to support this.^[3] However, the wall of New Zealand House, home of the New Zealand High Commission, which now stands on the site of the Carlton Hotel, displays a blue plaque, stating that Nguyễn worked there in 1913 as a waiter.

Political education in France[link]

From 1919–23, while living in France, Nguyễn Sinh Cung began to approach the idea of communism, through his friend and Socialist Party of France comrade Marcel Cachin. Cung claimed to have arrived in Paris from London in 1917, but the French police only had documents of his arrival in June 1919.^[3] Following World War I, under the name Nguyễn Ái Quốc ("Nguyễn the Patriot"), he petitioned for recognition of the civil rights of the Vietnamese people in French Indochina to the Western powers at the Versailles peace talks, but was ignored.^[5] Citing the language and the spirit of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Quốc petitioned U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to help remove the French from Vietnam and replace them with a new, nationalist government. Although he was unable to obtain consideration at Versailles, the failure further radicalized Nguyễn, while also making him a national hero of the anti-colonial movement at home in Vietnam.^[6]