Civettictis civetta Shoulder height 40cm. Weight 10–15kg.
This bulky, long-haired, rather feline creature of the African night is primarily carnivorous, feeding on small animals and carrion, but will also eat fruit. It has a similarly coloured coat to a leopard, which is densely blotched with large black spots becoming stripes towards the head. Civets are widespread and common throughout a band across northern Botswana, including Chobe, the Kwando-Linyanti and Okavango areas. They occur in many habitats, and make frequent cameo appearances on night drives.

Note that although they are occasionally referred to as 'civet cats', this is misleading. They are more closely related to the mongooses than the felines.

Similar species
The small-spotted genet (Genetta genetta) and large-spotted genet (Genetta tigrina) are two members of a large group of similar small predators found in Botswana. As even experts often can't tell the various species apart without examining their skins by hand, precise identification of genets is difficult. All the genets are slender and rather feline in appearance (though they are not cats), with a grey to gold-brown coat marked with black spots (perhaps combining into short bars) and a long ringed tail.

You're most likely to see genets on nocturnal game drives or occasionally scavenging around game reserve lodges. The small-spotted genet is found all over Botswana, whereas its larger cousin is thought to be restricted to the northern areas of Chobe, Kwando-Linyanti and Okavango. Genets are excellent climbers and opportunists, eating fruit, small birds, termites and even scorpions.