2 globally endangered civet species found in Vietnam

Conservationists have found two civet species in Vietnam's central region, which are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the Viet Nature Conservation Center said Tuesday.

Through camera traps, Vietnamese conservationists have recorded the existence of the rare and valuable wild animals, Owston's palm civet (Chrotogale owstoni) and large-spotted civet (Viverra megaspila), in Phong Dien Nature Conservation Reserve in Thua Thien Hue Province.

The large-spotted civet has been found in nature for the first time in Vietnam. In June, IUCN assumed that this civet species might have been extinct in Vietnam and China.

The findings were made accidentally when the conservationists from the center and nature reserves in four central provinces are looking for Edwards's pheasant (Lophura edwardsi). Edwards's pheasant, endemic to Vietnam's rainforests, is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. Endit