Kopi Luwak unusual process contributed to its rarity and subsequently, its high price. More recently, growing numbers of intensive civet "farms" have been established and operated across Southeast Asia, confining tens of thousands of animals to live in battery cages and be force-fed. Concerns were raised over the safety of civet coffee after evidence suggested that the SARS virus originated from palm civets. '"The conditions are awful, much like battery chickens", said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of the conservation NGO, TRAFFIC south-east Asia. "The civets are taken from the wild and have to endure horrific conditions. They fight to stay together
African palm civet the most frequently found small carnivores for sale in bushmeat markets. Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot. They have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are threatened by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company. African palm civet The African palm civet ("Nandinia binotata"), also known as the two-spotted palm civet, is a small mammal widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The African palm civet is grey to