Incredibly Rare Owston’s Civet Kitten born at Newquay Zoo

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: August 26, 2020 11:25 pm

The Owston’s civet kitten which has been born at Newquay Zoo

Photo Credit: Newquay Zoo

Newquay Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a Owston’s civet kitten. The kitten was born on May 13th 2020 to mum, Nam and father, Bao.

Keepers have selected the name, Lam (meaning ‘forest’) for the civet kitten.

Births of Owston’s civets are incredibly rare in captivity. Just four zoos in Europe hold the species.

The Owston’s civet kitten which has been born at Newquay Zoo

Photo Credit: Newquay Zoo

Dave Rich, a keeper at Newquay Zoo said: “Newquay Zoo was the founding zoo to hold Owston’s civets in captivity and today we are one of only four zoos in Europe which holds them. Newquay Zoo currently has the most civets of these zoos; we have five. Newquay Zoo and Wild Planet Trust carry out a lot of research and data collection on the species to help improve our understanding of them and to continue to perfect our husbandry techniques to ensure the success of this species in captivity.”

Along with having the largest population of Owston’s civets in Europe Newquay Zoo also manage the breeding program across Europe.

At birth Lam weighed in at 120g (4.2oz) but he has since grown to 800g (28.2oz). He still has some growth to go till he becomes an adult. When this occurs he will weigh 2.5-3.5kg (5.5-7.7lbs).

This is the second time Nam has bred. This birth has been especially exciting as she has raised the kitten herself. Last year she gave birth to another kitten which had to be hand-reared.

The Owston’s civet kitten which has been born at Newquay Zoo

Photo Credit: Newquay Zoo

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Currently the kitten is reliant on mom’s milk. As it grows it will begin to feed on earthworms, fish, crickets, locusts and vegetables.

Once Lam reaches adult size he will be paired with another Owston’s civet either at Newquay or another zoo to help expand their population.

Owston’s civets are found in a small area of Vietnam. Their numbers continue to decline as a result of habitat loss and hunting.

Learn more about Newquay Zoo on their website – Newquay Zoo