It is hard to guess what a African civet weights. But we have the answer:
An adult African civet (Civettictis civetta) on average weights 12.09 kg (26.65 lbs).
The African civet is from the family Viverridae (genus: Civettictis). It is usually born with about 318 grams (0.7 lbs). They can live for up to 28 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 79.2 cm (2′ 8″). Usually, African civets have 2 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The African civet (; Civettictis civetta) is a large viverrid native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is considered common and widely distributed in woodlands and secondary forests. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. In some countries, it is threatened by hunting, and wild-caught individuals are kept for producing civetone for the perfume industry.The African civet is primarily nocturnal and spends the day sleeping in dense vegetation, but wakes up at sunset. It is a solitary mammal with a unique coloration: the black and white blotches covering its coarse pelage and rings on the tail are an effective cryptic pattern. The black bands surrounding its eyes closely resemble those of the raccoon. Other distinguishing features are its disproportionately large hindquarters and its erectile dorsal crest. It is an omnivorous generalist, preying on small vertebrates, invertebrates, eggs, carrion, and vegetable matter. It is one of the few carnivores capable of eating toxic invertebrates such as termites and millipedes. It detects prey primarily by smell and sound rather than by sight. It is the sole member of its genus.
Animals of the same family as a African civet
We found other animals of the Viverridae family:
- Malabar large-spotted civet bringing 12.08 kilos (26.63 lbs) to the scale
- Crested servaline genet bringing 1.86 kilos (4.1 lbs) to the scale
- Masked palm civet bringing 4.3 kilos (9.48 lbs) to the scale
- Sulawesi palm civet bringing 5.15 kilos (11.35 lbs) to the scale
- Abyssinian genet bringing 1.41 kilos (3.11 lbs) to the scale
- Golden palm civet bringing 2.82 kilos (6.22 lbs) to the scale
- Large Indian civet bringing 9.15 kilos (20.17 lbs) to the scale
- Servaline genet bringing 1.24 kilos (2.73 lbs) to the scale
- Giant forest genet bringing 2.74 kilos (6.04 lbs) to the scale
- Banded linsang with a weight of 684 grams
Animals with the same weight as a African civet
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Civettictis civetta:
- Ethiopian wolf with a weight of 14.38 kilos (31.7 lbs)
- Serval with a weight of 11.9 kilos (26.23 lbs)
- Roosevelt’s muntjac with a weight of 10.76 kilos (23.72 lbs)
- Marine otter with a weight of 11.2 kilos (24.69 lbs)
- Siberian musk deer with a weight of 13.31 kilos (29.34 lbs)
- Greater long-nosed armadillo with a weight of 9.7 kilos (21.38 lbs)
- Canada lynx with a weight of 9.73 kilos (21.45 lbs)
- Agile wallaby with a weight of 11.86 kilos (26.15 lbs)
- Barbary macaque with a weight of 11.49 kilos (25.33 lbs)
- Gray snub-nosed monkey with a weight of 12.27 kilos (27.05 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a African civet
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as African civet:
- Bay duiker with a size of 84.9 cm (2′ 10″)
- Marine otter with a size of 67.8 cm (2′ 3″)
- European badger with a size of 70.7 cm (2′ 4″)
- Malayan civet with a size of 65.7 cm (2′ 2″)
- Malabar large-spotted civet with a size of 84.5 cm (2′ 10″)
- Dwarf musk deer with a size of 90 cm (3′ 0″)
- Klipspringer with a size of 82.4 cm (2′ 9″)
- Bobcat with a size of 69.1 cm (2′ 4″)
- African clawless otter with a size of 80.9 cm (2′ 8″)
- Binturong with a size of 78.7 cm (2′ 7″)
Animals with the same litter size as a African civet
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a African civet:
- Red tree vole
- Somali serotine
- Mexican woodrat
- Smith’s red rock hare
- Dusky-footed woodrat
- Chinese ferret-badger
- Mexican deer mouse
- Yellow mongoose
- Iberian lynx
- American marten
Animals with the same life expectancy as a African civet
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a African civet:
- Olive baboon with an average maximal age of 25.17 years
- Eastern grey kangaroo with an average maximal age of 24 years
- Mantled guereza with an average maximal age of 24.5 years
- Bearded seal with an average maximal age of 31.42 years
- American badger with an average maximal age of 26 years
- Allen’s swamp monkey with an average maximal age of 23 years
- Mongoose lemur with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Giant panda with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Sun bear with an average maximal age of 24.75 years
- Ribbon seal with an average maximal age of 31 years