Civet: Rare animal that has been a menace to Lugari residents killed
A civet, one an animal that has been terrorizing residents of Lugari, killed [Photo-Courtesy]

Civet: Rare animal that has been a menace to Lugari residents killed

A civet is a rare wild animal of the cat family.

One of the strange animals that have been locking Lugari residents in at night and eating their dogs has been killed.

The animal, called a civet, was identified by residents of Maji Mazuri who notified Eliud Wafula, their friend.

“They were two, one male and the other female. When I was called upon, I found them disappearing into the forest. I went after them with my dogs and killed the female one but the male partner escaped,” he said.

Mr. Wafula said that the female was about to attack a woman who was fetching firewood in the forest.

“It even wanted to attack my dog but I was fast enough to hit it with a club on its head and killed it,” he said.

The civet lying dead after being killed [Photo-Courtesy]

He also revealed that two of his dogs were bitten by the male one but are now in a stable condition.

The animal has been blamed on a number of deaths of dogs in Mufutu Village, especially female ones.

What is a civet and is it common in Western Kenya?

Wikipedia describes a civet as ‘a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests which applies to over a dozen different species’.

It reveals that civets are commonly found in southeast Asia but the best-known species is the African civet, Civettictis civetta. Historically, it has been the main species from which a musky scent used in perfumery, also referred to as “civet”, was obtained.

Civets have a broadly cat-like general appearance, though the muzzle is extended and often pointed, rather like that of an otter, mongoose or even possibly a ferret, Wikipedia says.

The animal is not common in Western Kenya.

Share this article

2 Comments

  1. Mark Wamwoyo

    KWS could have intervened and saved the life of this beautiful civet.

    This could have been an ideal way to attract tourists to Western Kenya. What a loss

  2. John Loyesi

    Even those dogs doesn’t know their work therefore the male civet should not be hunted to death, it’s rare in Lugari

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *