Spatial capture–recapture reveals high densities of large Indian civet, an omnivorous small carnivore in Southeast Asia

Small carnivores (≤ 15 kg) are rich in species, and diverse in ecology and functional roles, yet population estimates are lacking for most species, particularly those in mainland Southeast Asia. Large Indian civet is among the most widespread small carnivore species in Southeast Asia. In contrast to many mammal species in this heavily hunted region, it is not considered highly threatened and appears to be relatively common, but there are no quantitative population estimates to confirm this. We used camera traps to identify individual civets based on their spotted coats and used spatially explicit capture–recapture models to estimate density at two sites in Thailand between 2011 and 2012. We employed a recently developed statistical approach to deal with uncertainty arising from photograph datasets with different numbers of left and right-sided photos, a common issue faced by camera trap studies. Density estimates at the two study sites ranged from 46.9 (95% CI 29.3–75.1) to 87.2 (57.6–131.9) individuals/100 km 2 . These density estimates are among the highest recorded for any small carnivore species in Southeast Asia. This high density might be facilitated by the species’ omnivorous diet, which includes abundant, diverse, and accessible food (fruits, insects). Given its high densities and its commonness across its range, combined with relatively large home ranges, large Indian civets could have crucial ecological roles as long-distance seed dispersers. More studies are needed in parts of the range where there is intensive snaring to compare with our results and thereby clarify the effect of snaring on large Indian civet density. We hope this study will draw more attention to the possibility that important ecosystem services are provided by abundant yet-overlooked species such as large Indian civets.