In news- An albino common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphrodites) was sighted in Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha after 129 years. It was last sighted in 1891.
About Palm civet-
- The common palm civet is a small mammal belonging to the family Viverridae.
- It can be found in Southern and Southeastern Asia.
- Their long, stocky body is covered with coarse, shaggy hair that is usually grey in colour.
- It is both terrestrial and arboreal, and shows nocturnal activity.
- IUCN status- Least Concern
- It is listed on CITES Appendix III.
- Asian palm civets are claimed to be the carrier that transmitted SARS from horseshoe bats to humans.
- It is an omnivore feeding foremost on fruits such as berries and pulpy fruits.
- It thus helps to maintain tropical forest ecosystems via seed dispersal.
- It also feeds on palm flower sap, which when fermented becomes palm wine, a sweet liquor (“toddy”), hence it is called the toddy cat.
- In Indonesia, it is threatened by poaching and illegal wildlife trade for the increasing production of ‘Kopi luwak’, a form of coffee that involves ingestion and excretion of the beans by the animal.
About Satkosia Tiger Reserve-
- It is a tiger reserve located in the Angul district of Odisha, India.
- Satkosia Tiger Reserve was designated in 2007, and comprises the Satkosia Gorge Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjacent Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Mahanadi River passes through it in the Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests ecoregion.
- The major plant communities are mixed deciduous forests including Sal and riverine forest.
- Mammals found include the leopard, indian wild dog or the (dhole), wild boars , striped hyena, sloth bear, leopard cat and the jungle cat, Asian elephant, Spotted deer, sambar deer, barking deer and langurs.
- The reptiles here include the Mugger Crocodile and Gharials, Indian Python.
- The Indian giant squirrel is also found here.
As of April 2021, only one female tiger is found here
Source: DownToEarth
