INFLUENCE OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND PREDATION PRESSURE ON SPACING BEHAVIOR IN PALM CIVETS

The common palm civet, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, was studied in Roya l Chitwan National Park, Nepal, to determine daily and seasonal moveme nts in relation to availability of food and predation pressure. Five a dult animals (two females and three males) were captured and fitted wi th radiocollars and located every other day. Each animal was followed for 12 consecutive h/month. Palm civets were strictly nocturnal; activ ity began at ca. 1800 h and ended at ca. 0400 h. Animals were more act ive on dark nights than on bright, moonlit nights and typically rested during the day in the crown of vine-covered trees. Seeds of fruits we re found in 84.5% of 193 seats of palm civets that were collected Dece mber 1989 to June 1990. In April, when ripe fruits were not readily av ailable, a shift in diet from fruits to vertebrate and invertebrate pr ey occurred. Palm civets also fed on the nectar of Bombax ceiba and sa p from stems of Vallaris solanacea. Home-range sizes varied inversely with the amount of food available. A high degree of home-range overlap indicated that individuals were not territorial. Documented predation and exclusive nocturnal activity suggest that palm civets are vulnera ble to predation by large carnivores in the park. Strong predation pre ssure and high temporal and spatial variation in availability of food resources may account for the apparent absence of territorial behavior of palm civets in this population.