It is hard to guess what a Cape genet weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Cape genet (Genetta tigrina) on average weights 2.07 kg (4.56 lbs).
The Cape genet is from the family Viverridae (genus: Genetta). It is usually born with about 85 grams (0.19 lbs). They can live for up to 15 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 54.5 cm (1′ 10″). Usually, Cape genets 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 Cape genet (Genetta tigrina), also known as the South African large-spotted genet, is a genet species endemic to South Africa. As it is common and not threatened, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.Like other genets, it is nocturnal and arboreal, preferring to live in the riparian zones of forests, as long as these are not marshy areas.
Animals of the same family as a Cape genet
We found other animals of the Viverridae family:
- Fossa (animal) bringing 9.5 kilos (20.94 lbs) to the scale
- Hose’s palm civet with a size of 60.1 cm (2′ 0″)
- Asian palm civet bringing 3.2 kilos (7.05 lbs) to the scale
- Otter civet bringing 4.25 kilos (9.37 lbs) to the scale
- Malagasy civet bringing 1.86 kilos (4.1 lbs) to the scale
- Eastern falanouc bringing 2.78 kilos (6.13 lbs) to the scale
- Abyssinian genet bringing 1.41 kilos (3.11 lbs) to the scale
- Large-spotted civet bringing 4.53 kilos (9.99 lbs) to the scale
- Servaline genet bringing 1.24 kilos (2.73 lbs) to the scale
- Haussa genet bringing 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Cape genet
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Genetta tigrina:
- White-faced saki with a weight of 1.67 kilos (3.68 lbs)
- Manchurian hare with a weight of 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs)
- Granada hare with a weight of 2.33 kilos (5.14 lbs)
- Liberian mongoose with a weight of 1.82 kilos (4.01 lbs)
- Malagasy civet with a weight of 1.86 kilos (4.1 lbs)
- Long-tailed porcupine with a weight of 1.75 kilos (3.86 lbs)
- Banded hare-wallaby with a weight of 1.94 kilos (4.28 lbs)
- African palm civet with a weight of 2.17 kilos (4.78 lbs)
- Ornate cuscus with a weight of 1.79 kilos (3.95 lbs)
- Red lemur with a weight of 2.39 kilos (5.27 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Cape genet
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Cape genet:
- South American coati with a size of 52.8 cm (1′ 9″)
- Indian pangolin with a size of 54.3 cm (1′ 10″)
- Antelope jackrabbit with a size of 54.6 cm (1′ 10″)
- Bengal fox with a size of 52.3 cm (1′ 9″)
- Ethiopian highland hare with a size of 51 cm (1′ 9″)
- Pampas fox with a size of 62.2 cm (2′ 1″)
- Broom hare with a size of 50.2 cm (1′ 8″)
- Alaskan hare with a size of 57.6 cm (1′ 11″)
- Korean hare with a size of 46.5 cm (1′ 7″)
- Bates’s pygmy antelope with a size of 54 cm (1′ 10″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Cape genet
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Cape genet:
- Brants’s whistling rat
- Schlieffen’s bat
- Rock hyrax
- Baird’s pocket gopher
- Western barbastelle
- Hoary bat
- Black-headed marmoset
- White-lipped peccary
- Thick-tailed pygmy jerboa
- African yellow bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Cape genet
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Cape genet:
- White-tailed mongoose with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Harbour porpoise with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Bat-eared fox with an average maximal age of 13.75 years
- Short-eared possum with an average maximal age of 17 years
- South American coati with an average maximal age of 17.67 years
- Golden jackal with an average maximal age of 16 years
- Cape grysbok with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Indian muntjac with an average maximal age of 17.58 years
- Grant’s gazelle with an average maximal age of 12.67 years
- Long-tailed goral with an average maximal age of 13.17 years