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PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online OPEN ACCESS every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Note First record of Cynogale bennettii (Mammalia: : ) kept as a pet in , representing a possible new threat to the species

Jamie Francis Bernard Bouhuys

26 October 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 13 | Pages: 14764–14766 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5234.11.13. 14764-14766

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Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2019 | 11(13): 14764–14766 Note

Oter Civet Cynogale benneti First record of Otter Civet is a nocturnal, semi-aquatc species Cynogale bennettii (Mammalia: Carnivora: of small carnivore that resembles Viverridae) kept as a pet in Indonesia, an oter in appearance. Very litle ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) representing a possible new threat to the ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) is known about the species. It was species PLATINUM believed to be largely confned to OPEN ACCESS lowland peat swamp forests in the Jamie Francis Bernard Bouhuys Sunda region: (Indonesia), (Indonesia, , TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Ofce, Suite 12A-01, Level 12A, Darussalam), peninsular Malaysia, Tower 1 Wisma AmFirst, Jalan Stadium SS 7/15 47301 Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. and peninsular (Cheyne et al. 2016), however, Correspondence address: Grobbenhof 4, 6932 CL Westervoort, it has been recorded in lowland dipterocarp forests, The Netherlands. secondary forests, forests, logged forests, [email protected] freshwater swamp forests and limestone forests (Ross et al. 2015). It is assumed to hunt fsh, crustaceans, molluscs, small , and birds (Lekagul & McNeely Oter Civet in a cage was discovered. The picture was 1977). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has posted on 6 January 2017 on the ‘Oter Lovers Indonesia assessed it as Endangered and in decline (Ross et al. X Facebook Group’, a group where people keeping oters 2015). This species is mainly threatened by as pets exchange informaton and pictures. Further loss, although there are records from degraded and research uncovered another picture of probably the fragmented environments that suggest the species same from 6 June 2016 on the owner’s Facebook adapts to some degree to these altered environments page, and two Youtube videos from 9 June 2016 on the (Evans et al. 2016). Other threats are siltng and polluton owner’s Youtube channel. The owner was located in of waterways and huntng for wild meat, as non- Bekasi on Java, and it is unclear if the animal was being selectve huntng and trapping methods are commonly kept as a pet or whether it was for sale. The man uses an used throughout its range. There has been no evidence alias and posts pictures of him with diferent species of of any selectve huntng, including that for the pet trade natonally protected , which raises the suspicion and numerous research on wildlife trade in Indonesia that he is a wildlife trader. Informaton on his Instagram, and other range countries have not recorded them in like his alias name, more pictures of the same animal trade before (e.g., ProFauna Indonesia 2009; Shepherd (Image 1) and the other species of animals he displays, & Shepherd 2010; Nijman et al. 2014; Krishnasamy & suggests he obtained it from the island of Borneo. Stoner 2016; Phassaraudomsak & Krishnasamy 2018). This is the frst tme this species has been recorded During a survey carried out by TRAFFIC on the online as being kept as a pet. On 15 August 2016, however, trade of oters in southeastern Asia, a picture of a juvenile police seized two Oter , among other wildlife,

DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5234.11.13. 14764-14766

Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 October 2019 (online & print)

Manuscript details: #5234 | Received 10 July 2019 | Finally accepted 18 October 2019

Citaton: Bouhuys, J.F.B. (2019). First record of Oter Civet Cynogale benneti (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) kept as a pet in Indonesia, representng a possible new threat to the species. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(13): 14764–14766; htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5234.11.13.14764-14766

Copyright: © Bouhuys 2019. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

Funding: IUCN Oter Specialist Group.

Competng interests: The author declares no competng interests.

Acknowledgements: The author wishes to thank Will Duckworth, Jordi Janssen, and Daniel Willcox for valuable comments on an earlier draf of this paper. Furthermore the author would like to thank Nicole Duplaix of the IUCN Oter Specialist Group for the funding of the research into oter trade that uncovered this incident and Kanitha Krishnasamy of TRAFFIC for the opportunity to delve deeper into this incident.

14764 First record of Oter Civet in Indonesia Bouhuys

Image 1. Instagram screenshot of a juvenile Oter Civet in a cage with signboard of keepers’ alias, to show actual possession and possible availability to potental buyers.

in Makassar’s Soekarno Hata Harbour (Mappesona 2017. Since keeping an Oter Civet is against Indonesian 2016). The animals arrived on a truck from Balikpapan, law and the species is threatened, the poaching of East Province, and were hidden in boxes any individual animal should be taken seriously. It is and baskets without destnaton or sender details. The unknown whether notfying authorites has resulted in police arrested two men when they were about to pick an investgaton and what acton may have been taken. the animals up. The result (e.g., if there was a convicton) The trade in and keeping of civets in Indonesia in of this enforcement acton is unknown. general has been largely unregulated, even though In Indonesia, Oter Civet is categorised as Protected quotas are in place for several species and full protecton by the Government Regulaton No. 7/1999 on Preserving status in place for others (Shepherd 2008). The trade Flora and Fauna Species. The Government Act No. and keeping of civets (Nijman et al. 2014) and other 5/1990 Concerning Conservaton of Living Resources and small carnivores, like , their Ecosystems artcle 21(2) states that it is prohibited (Shepherd 2012) and oters (Gomez & Bouhuys 2018) as for any person to catch, injure, kill, keep, possess, pets is increasing in popularity in the country. As the care for, transport and trade in a protected animal. keeping of small carnivores is increasing, the desire to Artcle 40(2) states that a person who intentonally keep threatened species, like Oter Civet, may increase, violates those provisions is liable to punishment by leading to increased poaching and trafcking. It is imprisonment of up to a maximum of fve years and a therefore essental that Indonesian authorites ensure fne of up to a maximum of IDR100 000 000 (USD 7,533 that perpetrators are prosecuted according to the full at 15 September 2017 rates at htps://www.oanda. extent of the law. This account atests to how social com/). Informaton on the individual with the Oter media and the internet in general are being used to Civet observed online was passed on to Interpol in April show of endangered animals, ofen openly, and how

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2019 | 11(13): 14764–14766 14765 First record of Oter Civet in Indonesia Bouhuys platorms such as Facebook are enabling the illegal Mappesona (2016). Polda Sulsel gagalkan penyelundupan 17 wildlife trade. Enforcement against the online illegal satwa lindung asal Kaltm. Merdeka.com (Indonesia), 16 August. Downloaded on 4 January 2018. htps://www.merdeka.com/ wildlife trade is becoming increasingly important in peristwa/polda-sulsel-gagalkan-penyelundupan-17-satwa-lindung- species conservaton in southeastern Asia, including in asal-kaltm.html Nijman, V., D. Spaan, E.J. Rode-Margono, P.D. Roberts, P.D. Wirdatet Indonesia. & K.A.I. Nekaris (2014). Trade in Common Palm Civet hermaphroditus in Javan and Balinese markets, Indonesia. Small References Carnivore Conservaton 51: 11–17. Phassaraudomsak, M. & K. Krishnasamy (2018). Trading Faces: a rapid assessment on the use of Facebook to trade in wildlife in Thailand. Cheyne, S.M., A. Mohamed, A.J. Hearn, J. Ross, H. Samejima, M. TRAFFIC, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 23pp. Heydon, D.M. Augeri, T. Van Berkel, R. Boonratana, G. Fredriksson, ProFauna Indonesia (2009). Wildlife Trade Survey on the Bird Markets J. Hon, A.J. Marshall, D.W. Macdonald, J.L. Belant, S. Kramer- in Java. Profauna Indonesia. Malang, Indonesia, 32pp. Schadt & A. Wiltng (2016). Predicted distributon of the Oter Civet Ross, J., A. Wiltng, D. Ngoprasert, B. Loken, L. Hedges, J.W. Duckworth, Cynogale benneti (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) on Borneo. S. Cheyne, J. Brodie, W. Chutpong, A. Hearn, M. Linkie, J. Rafes Bulletn of Zoology 33: 126–131. McCarthy, N. Tantpisanuh & I.N. Haidir (2015). Cynogale benneti. Evans, M.N., S.H. Vickers, M.S. Abu-Bakar & B. Goossens (2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T6082A45197343. Small Carnivores of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Downloaded on 22 October 2019. htps://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN. , Borneo, including a new locality for the Oter Civet Cynogale UK.2015-4.RLTS.T6082A45197343.en benneti. Small Carnivore Conservaton 54: 26–38. Shepherd, C.R. (2008). Civets in trade in Medan, North Sumatra, Gomez, L. & J. Bouhuys (2018). Illegal oter trade in Southeast Asia. Indonesia (1997–2001) with notes on legal protecton. Small TRAFFIC, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 37pp. htps://www. Carnivore Conservaton 38: 34–36. trafc.org/site/assets/fles/5228/seasia-oter-report.pdf Shepherd, C.R. (2012). Observatons of small carnivores in Jakarta Krishnasamy, K. & S. Stoner (2016). Trading Faces: a rapid assessment wildlife markets, Indonesia, with notes on trade in Javan Ferret on the use of Facebook to trade wildlife in peninsular Malaysia. Melogale orientalis and on the increasing demand for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 30pp. Common Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus for civet cofee https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/2434/trading-faces- producton. Small Carnivore Conservaton 47: 38–41. facebook-malasia.pdf Shepherd, C.R. & L.A. Shepherd (2010). The trade in Viverridae and Lekagul, B. & J.A. McNeely (1977). Mammals of Thailand. Associaton Prionodontdae in Peninsular Malaysia with notes on conservaton for the Conservaton of Wildlife, Bangkok, Thailand, 758pp. and legislaton. Small Carnivore Conservaton 42: 27–29.

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14766 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 October 2019 | 11(13): 14764–14766

PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

October 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 13 | Pages: 14631–14786 Date of Publicaton: 26 October 2019 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2019.11.13.14631-14786

Communicatons Short Communicatons

Camera trap survey of mammals in Cleopatra’s Needle Critcal Habitat in A frst photographic record of a Yellow-bellied Mustela kathiah Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines Hodgson, 1835 (Mammalia: Carnivora: ) from western Nepal – Paris N. Marler, Solomon Calago, Mélanie Ragon & – Badri Baral, Anju Pokharel, Dipak Raj Basnet, Ganesh Bahadur Magar & Lyca Sandrea G. Castro, Pp. 14631–14642 Karan Bahadur Shah, Pp. 14753–14756

Habitat suitability modeling of Asian Elephant Elephas maximus diversity in a montane forest in central Bhutan (Mammalia: Proboscidea: Elephantdae) in Parsa Natonal Park, Nepal – Tashi Dhendup, Kinga Thinley & Ugyen Tenzin, Pp. 14757–14763 and its bufer zone – Puja Sharma, Hari Adhikari, Shankar Tripathi, Ashok Kumar Ram & Rajeev Bhatarai, Pp. 14643–14654 Notes

Current populaton status of the endangered Hog Deer Axis porcinus First record of Oter Civet Cynogale benneti (Mammalia: Carnivora: (Mammalia: Cetartodactyla: Cervidae) in the Terai grasslands: a study Viverridae) kept as a pet in Indonesia, representng a possible new following politcal unrest in Manas Natonal Park, India ­ threat to the species – Alolika Sinha, Bibhut Prasad Lahkar & Syed Ainul Hussain, Pp. 14655– – Jamie Francis Bernard Bouhuys, Pp. 14764–14766 14662 An observaton of the White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster A food spectrum analysis of three bufonid species (Anura: Bufonidae) preying on Saltwater Crocodile hatchlings Crocodylus porosus in from Utarakhand region of the western Himalaya, India Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, India – Vivekanand Bahuguna, Ashish Kumar Chowdhary, Shurveer Singh, – Nimain Charan Palei, Bhakta Padarbinda Rath & Bimal Prasanna Gaurav Bhat, Siddhant Bhardwaj, Nikita Lohani & Satyanand Bahuguna, Acharya, Pp. 14767–14769 Pp. 14663–14671 Elusive, rare and sof: a new site record of Leith’s Sofshell Turtle Moultng patern and mortality during the fnal emergence of the Nilssonia leithii (Reptlia: Testudines: Trionychidae) from Coromandel Marsh Dart Damselfy Ceriagrion coromandelianum Bhadra Reserve, Karnataka, India (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) in central India – H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar, M. Mrunmayee, I.N. Chethan, – Nilesh R. Thaokar, Payal R. Verma & Raymond J. Andrew, Pp. 14672– Manish Kumar & D.V. Girish, Pp. 14770–14772 14680 A new distributon record of the Pentagonal Sea Urchin Crab Diversity of parasitc Hymenoptera in three rice-growing tracts of Echinoecus pentagonus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1879) (Decapoda: Tamil Nadu, India Brachyura: Pilumnidae) from the Andaman Islands, India – Johnson Alfred Daniel & Kunchithapatham Ramaraju, Pp. 14681–14690 – Balakrishna Meher & Ganesh Thiruchitrambalam, Pp. 14773–14776

Mapping octocoral (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) research in Asia, with First records of the ghost moth Palpifer Hampson, [1893] partcular reference to the Indian subcontnent: trends, challenges, and (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) from the Indian subcontnent south of the opportunites Himalaya – Ghosh Ramvilas, Kannan Shalu, Rajeev Raghavan & Kuty Ranjeet, – Siyad A. Karim & John R. Grehan, Pp. 14777–14779 Pp. 14691–14721 First record of longhorn Calothyrza margaritfera (Cerambycidae: SEM study of planktonic chlorophytes from the aquatc habitat of the : Phrynetni) from western India Indian Sundarbans and their conservaton status – Vishwas Deshpande & Hemant V. Ghate, Pp. 14780–14783 – Gour Gopal Satpat & Ruma Pal, Pp. 14722–14744 Extended distributon of Ceropegia mahabalei Hemadri & Ansari Is cultvaton of Saussurea costus (Asterales: Asteraceae) sustaining its (Apocynaceae) to the state of Gujarat, India conservaton? – Mukta Rajaram Bhamare, Hemantkumar Atmaram Thakur & – Chandra Prakash Kuniyal, Joel Thomas Heinen, Bir Singh Negi & Sharad Suresh Kambale, Pp. 14784–14786 Jagdish Chandra Kaim, Pp. 14745–14752 Publisher & Host

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