Suan CanNrvonsCoNSERs/ArroN The Newsletterand Journal of the IUCN/SSC t,11t1'*1d'1j:1T speciaristcroup IUCN Number20 April1999 SrrcrnsSunvtvel CoMMrssroN Fanalo!c /Eupleresgo!dor,, - Photoi RotandWirrh Theproduction and distribution of thisissue has been sponsored by "BlijdorpZoo", Rotterdam, Holland, "Columbus -h Zoo",Powell, Ohio, USA "Copenhagen {*'1'" Zoo",Fredericksberg, Denmark "l\,4arwell PreservationTtust Ltd". Colden Common, UK "Royal ZoologicalSociety of Antwerp",Antwerp, Belgium and "Carnivore the Conservation& Research Trust", Knoxville, TN, USA ,,,tellii9ttrsd. 1!0 Lohll'. ht don Sruen CenNrvoRECoNSERs/ArIoN The Newsletterand Journalof the IUCN/SSL Mustelid,Vivenid & ProcyonidSpecialist Group Editor-in-chief: Hary VanRompacy. Edegem, Belgiunr Associateeditor: Huw Grifliths,Hull. UnitedKingdom Editorial board: AngelaGlatston. Rotterdam, Netherlands MichaclRiff el. Heidelberg,Germany Arnd Schreiber,Heidelberg, Gernany RolandWirth. Miinchen, Germany The !ie$s erprersedin this publicationafe thoscol lhc rtrtln)rsand do nor necessaril)feflect thosc of rhc IUCN. Dor tlre IUCN/SSCI\,lustelid. Viverid & l'r)cyorid Sfccialisr Cr)up. Wc {rc partictrlarlr-grrtelu1 to walter Rasmu\sentof reding thc manuscripls.trd ilDprc\,nrgrhe Bnglish st]'le. The airn ofrhis publication is to otter ihc mcmbc* ol rhc IUCN/SSCI\,lv&PSG. xnd tholc $ho rrc concenredwith muslclids.tivcrrids. .rndproctonids. briet tapers. news itcms. rbstrrcts. lrrrdli(les of rcccnt litcrrture. All rerders are irvrted to lend matefirl to: Small CarnivoreConservation c/o Dr. H. Van Rompaey Jan Verbeftlei,15 2650Edegem - Belgium e-mail:Harry,[email protected] l'rinted on fccyclcd papcr lssr-l0t9-5041 Owston's Palm Civet Conservation Breeding project Cuc Phuong National Parl Vietnam ShelaghHEARD ROSENTHAL thc part. The pxrk authoririessubsequenily requested rhe author to caretor rnd raisethem. Approxinarely rwo weekstater. rhee (1.2)infants were confiscaied from a loggerin Kim BoaDistricr (ipproxnnare'yl0 kilomelersnorrheasi of rhepark) and also sent to the parkfor care.These aninals rhus lbrmed the basisof the Owston'sPalm Civet Conservation Breeding Project. Theinitial reasonforraising the Crror,sdl? was toco ecr informationoD their growlh, behaviouri and basic biology, wiih an intentionto undertakeit moniioredrelease once ihey reached adulthood.Over tirnc, however. ihe decisionwas m lain theanimals captive due ro bothhuntirg pessure ar the park andhlhe need for firm evidenccthat Chft'tosale o\|sroal could be bred successtullyin caprivity.something thai had neverbeen achieved.Although Haroi Zoo hadheld severat animals for more thanlour ycars.rheiran€mprs ro breedand successfully raise this spccieshad failed, and animalskept at FrankfunZoo for rhe Intmduction periodl99l 1996also Iailed ro reproduce.Hence. mere seemeo to besome concem rhat this sp€cies night bedifficulr lo breedin Chtu oqdle owstoni Thomas. t912 is a highly range caplivity. This continuesto be the caseas SaigonZoo has rcslri.ted speciesbelieved conlincd ro northem Lros, central ro attemptedto breedCi.oroaalp withour succcss over the lasr few nonhcm Vietnam. and a smatl areaofChina bordenng Laos and years.and r privatefacilily in Laosreporred bi.ths year "vulnerable" lasi bur Vietnam. lt is listcd ar in the IUCN (1996) Red List no survivors(N. Schonwdlter.pers.com.). As the Cuc phuong ofglobally threatenedspccies, and included as a protectedspecies animalswere housed in very goodcondirions and in excellent in Vietram's own RedBook (1995).Atleast in Vietnam. the tirlle health,for conserv,ttionconcems rhis seemedlike a valuable informalion rvrilable poinrs to a patchy distribution. Nowhere opportunityio gatherfurther informatioo on the spccies'behav- doe! the species appear rbundant (especiatly as comprred to rourand reproducttun. In addition.given the limitedknowledge scveralother ci veI speciessnch $ Pagumalanata. pan loturus ot mostcivet species biology and reproduction. it washoped rhat hemaphroditus, VireticuLa in lica, tn.l vir?na.ibetha). DDeto theexperience and inlbrrnalion obtained might be relevant ro rhe rts re(ncted disriburion and low abundanceir is of high conser careand captive breeding of orhermore threarened civet species. vation concem. While appa.enrly nor rarge|edby hunring and Vielnxn's rampanrwildlifetrade. irdoes succumbto both uncon SOURCE I-OCAIE BREEDTR Thc Owston's Palm Civet Conscnation Breeding projecl was initiated in 1995,and grew out ofa tield rcsearchprojecr on c'vets aiCuc PhuongNational Pa.k. Vietnarn.The parkis located "M in northem Vietnam, rpproximately 120 kilonet€rs sourhwesrof Nor 1996 M Hanoi. The original aim of rhe field study was to invesrigatethe ecology and behaviour of the park's several sympatric civei species,which incluJc Chtotosale ,wrrori. Cuc phuong was Vietnam's only prolected area where C/,.rrogat. was known to "M occur when thc IUCN ptan DnpeBed 9? Musrclid & Viverrid Action was "M compiled in 1989, Dnpcftd 97 a key reason for siiing the project ar Cuc "M Phuong. *M Dicd ne*born Over a three-yea.period. the licld srudy failed to sight or Untno$n rrap ChrotognLeo\|stoni at the park_The Action Plan shted &at A Y villagers .eported thar the speciesmat stilt be common in the I park. and thxt it would approachhouses in sench of kitchen waste DEd infani May lt98 M 'hi. i. nos asumed ro be cn,,neou,.Vrll:lge rnrervres, c,rn firmed rhat the speciesis uncommon in the park and tbar it has I =lnve.ile: YA = yonngaduhiA = adut!:OA= becomerarer in recentyears. In early 1995, however,rwo fresh old adutt Neonareras Ejectedbl morherlho skins wcre viewed in a village shop al the nonh end ofthe park: did "otnus€ ir. diedaft€r 16 hour I l.ianr squeezedthrongh wiE inro adjoining.age *here the rnim4ls were reponed to have been hunredin rhc park. Atso it waskilted by adultcive(t in May 1995.two infant fenale Cn.,hsdlr were confislated by park rangersfrom a local huntcr who hadhand caught them inside Table L Chrotogal" o\|sroni mainrainedrr Cuc PhuongNP Notes on husbandrv Thc cnclosurcfkxr.s lrc covcrcd bi wcekly in fresh n)resl lerl liltcr. A! the Owlion s arc lery light rooted animals. the HOUSING ground area successfullysupports live ground cover. grasscs. The tact that Owsroo s palm civets are placid. relatilely shrubsand small lrees. and seasonallythis !egelrtion becomcs .Lftfolchable and unaggressive(both towards conspecificsand quiie dense. olltring a habitit whiph varies over time. Thc lrLr rns)animals lacilitatesease in keepingften. The speciesis legetation attractsinsecrs and olher invenebrrtes lh.u scr!c !s .u'feled to be largelv solitafy in the wild. howele. rhe projecr forage. and occasionally rodents and birds will lrlso ente. rhc hrs munagedto houseseleral anjmalstogefter without incident. enclosures.Rocks andlogs areplaced ontheground lbrclirnbing, For dre lirst eighteen months of rheA lives, all tive original 3ndnume'ou\ hr:rnche,,'l \ar)inp qidrh rnd ,i,?egi\ c JJLe', ru .rninr.rl(wefe housedtogether and appearedto be a very contert all areasofthe cages.Sleeping boxes have beenplaced at r height .1,!rrrlSroup: although two nestbo\es were availablein ihe cage. ofapproximalely I - 2 net€rs, with accessto theground rnd upper .. r. J|als aiways sleptin one box |ogether.lt appearsrhat up lo reaches!ia branches.When given a choice,all animalspreferthe .,,LLr,,!re year ofage, young animalscan live rogetherveryeasily. higher sleepingboxes to thosephced on or ne.trthe ground. and .. r! \ hich socialinteractioni arecharacterised by ailo-groom- they prefer to sleepsocially ralher lhan in individual boxes(bar !. ,nre torns of play. puffing. resting togelher rather than one remporarypairing). Cagesare re-firbished w h branchesar .-.n.r.u.. ctc. Alierlhi! time.mildly agg.cssi!e interaotionI begir lc.tsronce a year. wi!h minor adjushents periodically. Shaders , .Lr,t..rr(chasing, snapping. a\oidance. elc.). Witb adrlts.u brs provided by treesand brrnboo plantcd aroundthc pcrimeter.and .. r n ..s\ to keef onetrir together(either malefemale or female/ hanrboo mats have been secufed on the foof for additional r.r.1L.r !lthough there is greatvariation in relationlhipsbetween protectionagainst wind. rair and sun.A plasticroofmat over the ,,rr\,,lull aninnls ard this is an imponanr factor in decjding areaofthe sleepingboxes provides additionalrlIin prolection-A , f,!ir r0 houselogether. large shallow plasticbowl is placedin a cornerof eachenclosurei with the addiiion of a few centimetersof watei (whi€h seems1() ll(N\ing condiiionshale expandedrnd improvcd with thc bolh irllracl lhc aninals rnd ircilitatc clcrning), the rnimals use ir,,$ rh of dreproject and breedjng success. At lhe endof 1996,the this as a permnnenttoilet sire. .,iitrr.tl\ were \plit into lwo grout! housedin a 6x6x,1 meter cage .ii(t ! 6xlix.l meter ca8e. Enclosuresnow number ten. wilh the DIET l,ire,r lddilions being tbur 6x,1x3 breeding cages. These are Testingtbr dietarypreltrerces has confi rmed that Owston s -,,r'rrDcted ot wife nreih sidesand top. \'ith concfelelbotings tbf palm cilet has a predilectionfor eanhworn\. working from the rh. Drc\h.and earthen floors. Therc arelwo clustersofcages. each susticion lhat hck of keeping successolsewhcrc may bc due relreredona largecatchcage area.lngeneral. anlmals are housed panly to a dietary problem.every effol1 hasbeen nade to include r. fJ|\ or singly,.rlthougha! mcntioncdgroups of up to |ilc r high proportion ol wild type lbods in the daily dicL. Thus. tu\.niles have been kepr togelher tbr extendedpenods. freshiydug earth\rormsare aregularfealure