The Civet Project is an invitation to understand human-civet interactions. Whether you are a kopi luwak partisan, coffee devotee, travel enthusiast, civet pet owner, or you've never heard of civets at all, civets have assimilated into society in vast and complex ways. The interactions humans have with civets are numerous and occur across the globe. Yet there is little ethnographic research focused on the relationships held between humans and civets within modern society.

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Belonging to an ancient lineage of Feliformia (or cat-like animals), civets are native throughout much of Southeast Asia. Their large geographic distribution, varied diets and adaptability to anthropogenic impact have made many civet species common throughout much of their range (Jennings and Veron, 2009). Yet very little is known about civets and there is much contestation surrounding their taxonomic status (Veron et al., 2015). Their nocturnal and solitary nature have traditionally afforded civets an air of secrecy, and their apparent commonality has left them at the fringes of  human concern.

The Civet Project's mission is to to protect the intrinsic interests of civets (Viverrid sp.) through the investigation of civet lives and human-civet entanglements. Through the dissemination of civet research to lay and academic audiences, the Civet Project promotes ethical human-civet relationships and inspires empathy for lesser-known species- including those of minimal conservation concern.

 

Founded by Jes Hooper, Anthrozoology PhD candidate from the University of Exeter, the Civet Project is an expansion of scholarship where, science, art, storytelling, and advocacy meet in shared transdisciplinary praxis. 

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