In fighting infectious diseases, conservation is the best medicine
THE PALM CIVET, an Asia native that resembles a mix of housecat, mongoose, and opossum, would merit a spot on anyone’s threatened-wildlife calendar. While civets are farmed as meat animals in China, the wild palm civet is protected by Chinese wildlife laws, and it has made the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a species at risk of extinction. Habitat loss is its primary threat, although poaching may also take a toll.