Citizens were amazed at the same scared to see a cat like animal but it had very long tail, and experts say it is a Civet Cat, and what appears from the photo a Brown civet cat was seen near TJSB bank College Road Belagavi.
Brown Palm Civet species is endemic to the rain forests of Western Ghats in South India,mostly appear in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve. The brown palm civet nocturnal animal, spend most of day on tree eating fruits and lianas.
Civet are called as toddy cats are carnivorous mammal species from Viverridae family, native to rain forest of Asia and Africa. India is home to large number of civet species and these nocturnal mammals are hunted for skin and bush meat. African Civet and Malayan civet are two more known species of civet found out of Indian sub-continent.
It was first seen by Gaurav Oulkar on Valentines day but it disappeared and it was again seen on Tuesday evening. Gaurav has already informed the forest department and they told him that it wont harm anyone and it would go away on its own.
The civet cat, a Schedule II animal protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
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We used to spot similar species frequently in Angol several years back
I had shot the pic of this cat in udyambag once. U can check in my album on facebook. They are nocturnal animal. That’s why they are hardly seen on the day.