A huge palmenroller(common palm civet/Paradoxurus hermaphroditis) has recently been spotted in the neighbourhood of my Calcutta home. This is a photo i have found on the net similar to the one in our locality.
I have 6 cats here, of which 2 are just 2 months old another is 4.5 months, the rest are adults but of particularly kiddish (that they are for us) and non-violent disposition. About 45 mins back the civet has attacked my 2 months old kittens and last night it has attacked one of our adult cats. We are greatly worried due to this.
I am very compassionate towards the civet and donot want to adopt any kind of cruel measures but this is a big threat for my cat family.
I have tried calling Compasssionate Crusaders but could not reach them. Could you please help me with some contacts of NGOs to get the civet back to its natural habitat. I would be leaving calcutta for Bangalore in a couple of days and would love to have this issue resolved before i have to leave. Your help would be very much appreciated.
5 comments:
Hi perhaps you could email Maneka Gandhi at gandhim@nic.in and gandhim@sansad.nic.in
i am sure she will have contacts who will be able to help.
oh no...:(
i have asked rajashree...we'll see what she has to say.
Thanks Yasmine and Jellicles! I have posted a mail to Maneka Gandhi :) and awaiting her response.
Both my cats are fine now ... I have found my little kitten the next morning in my garden. He somehow had managed to flee and hide in between the tall grass.
I havent seen the civet after 13th june. But according to my neighbours he visits the place once about every 4-5 days. It is very difficult to locate where it exactly stays(for most of the other times) without which our rescue efforts would be futile :(
I hope for the best :)
hi...i am sorry..i got a reply from rajashree, but i didnt post it here because i wasnt connected to the net for a while. here goes..this is what rajashree said:
(begin message 1)
Is the civet attacking at any particular time? They are nocturnal mostly. In her place I would try to keep the pet cats indoors at the time when the civet is active. I spoke to a conservationist friend about this too. Capturing and relocating this sort of animal isn't as simple as it sounds and it's very traumatic, sometimes even fatal to the animal. Since most wild animals are anyway struggling for survival, I wouldn't try to have it caught. Also I don't know if regular animal welfare NGOs are the right ones to ask. If for some reason she can't keep the cats inside at night, I'll ask about some wildlife people in Kolkata who may be able to help. Can do that tonight when I return.
(end message 1)
(begin message 2)
Hi, I've been trying to post a comment and forest rescue number for Madhubanti but it's taking forever and I have to rush off! I'm copying what I wanted to post below. In case my comment doesn't appear, please could you let her know? I really feel reporting the civet should be the last option but of course that is her decision. Thanks!
Hi. Maneka Gandhi and the regular animal welfare NGOs are not the right people for this kind of work, unless they have a trained wildlife cell. I got this Forest Rescue number from someone in Kolkata: 913332958798. However in your place I would not to try to capture and relocate the civet as that is always extremely risky and traumatic for wildlife, sometimes fatal. Survival is tough for them anyway, and it may have started living in an urban area because it's found a reliable food source somewhere there. You mentioned attacks early morning and evening I think. Palm civets are nocturnal so if you could keep your cats indoors during his active time, it should help.
(end message 2)
Thanks a lot for all the help :) . By God's grace my cats are all keeping fine.
The civet has not been seen for the last couple of weeks in our locality. I was worried both about the cats and also for the civet itself since it was entering into homes at midnight and feasting on all fruits. :)
My neighbours were planning to poison the animal.I had advised them not to take such a drastic and inhuman step. But human tendency is difficult to predict :(. I hope the civet is healthy and safe whereever it is now.
I will keep the contact numbers you have provided handy for future reference.
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