Civet Research Project

Aim

Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) threatens to damage wild populations of Asian Palm Civets in Indonesia. More wild research is desperately needed.

Kopi Luwak (Civet Coffee) threatens to damage wild populations of Asian Palm Civets in Indonesia. More wild research is desperately needed. By funding my PhD project for the coming year you will help in the research of the Asian Palm Civet in the wild on the island of Java in Indonesia. We aim to use the funding to capture the civets and other small carnivores in the study area and fit them with radio collars so that we can follow them. Doing this project will add vital information to what is known about the ecology of the species and its relationships to other species and humans too. It will also provide employment for local people in the village near the study site to help monitor and conserve the species locally. Much success is already being done in the same location in raising awareness and conservation of the Slow Loris (see http://www.nocturama.org/ for details).

The civet is best known at the moment by being captured to be caged and fed coffee berries to produce Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee. Many animals die quickly from the affects of poor husbandry. How can we look after the species in captivity without knowing how they behave in the wild. The Kopi Luwak and the exotic pet trade in South East Asia is potentially leading to threatening wild populations of civets in Indonesia particularly and more is needed to be known to know how best to conserve them in situ. Please help.

Research results will be published in work related to PhD studies and in peer assessed journals and can also be used to campaign towards greater protection of the species in Indonesia. https://www.facebook.com/CivetResearchProjectIndonesia

http://social-sciences.brookes.ac.uk/People/Students/students_socialsciences_pRoberts.asp

This project closed unsuccessfully on 21st February 2015