Dave Taylor's African Safari: Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores - Common Genet

Trophic Level III: Omnivores and Small Carnivores
Common Genet
Page 38

Genetta genetta

Length: 40 -50 cm (16-20")

Tail: 37- 47 cm (15-19")

Weight: 1.2 - 2.25 kg (3.3-5 lb.)

Habitat: The common genet is found in a variety of dry habitats. These range from seasonally dry woodlands to sparsely bushed near-deserts.

Food: The common genet eats a variety of foods. These include rodents, bushbabies, bats, birds, reptiles, frogs, fish, insects, scorpions, spiders, centipedes and fruits. They will also drink nectar from night blooming trees that they also help pollinate.

Social System: Genets and civets belong to the family Viverridae. They resemble the fossil ancestral carnivores. They are believed to look and behave very much as early carnivores did. From animals very much like these arose the modern carnivores: dogs, cats, bears, hyenas and mongooses. Genets are arboreal (living in trees) and have soft fur, retractable claws and resemble cats. Civets are terrestrial (living on the ground) and have coarse fur and blunt, dog-like claws.

It appears that genets are solitary and live alone except for females with young. More study is needed to determine if they are territorial. Males have ranges that overlap that of several females. Males may have a range as large as 5 square kilometers (1.9 square miles) while females occupy much smaller ranges averaging 25 hectares (62 acres).

Genets scent-mark objects including trees, rocks and even food. They have anal glands that they rub over the object. Like cats, they will also rub their heads, backs and necks on objects. Also like cats, they have latrines that they use regularly.

Behavior: Genets are agile climbers and powerful jumpers. When they sit on a branch or on the ground, they look like spotted cats.

Both males and females first breed when they are about two years old. Females give birth to two to four offspring (range 1-6) twice a year. Gestation is two to three months in length. In the Serengeti-Mara, births coincide with the rainy seasons.

Genets give birth in a tree hole or nest. The young open their eyes in ten days and begin eating solid food when they are about six weeks old. By the time they are between 11 and 18 weeks old they are hunting. At six months, they are on their own.

Predators: Hawks, eagles and owls will take genets. Leopards present a threat too.

Select a Page:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50