Man finally catches sight of rare and elusive three-striped palm civet after several attempts

After many attempts to locate the rare and elusive three-striped palm civet, a man was delighted when he came across the creature on Saturday night (Nov 5).

Stomper John Lee, founder of Wildlife Asia (Singapore), said he only managed to get a single shot of the animal and fortunately, it was a good one with a full side view.

"Unlike the common palm civet which is widespread and common, the three-striped cousin is almost exclusively arboreal (tree-climbing creature) and nocturnal in nature," he said.

"After many attempts to locate it, it finally showed up.

"As this animal is so hard to find and rare, it is also very shy and skittish.

"Before I could take a second shot, it disappeared into the deeper part of the forest.

"Most sightings of civet cats or toddy cats, as you may know some call them, are the common palm civet or Asian palm civet which is pretty common nowadays as many people and the public have stumbled across them.

"But for the three-striped palm civet, it is extremely rare to see one and most people do not get a chance to see such a rare animal which is critically endangered (50 or less in the whole of Singapore)."

Mr Lee declined to reveal where he sighted the animal saying: "I may anger the authorities or other nature groups who may disapprove of revealing the location."

"I seek your understanding especially when the sightings of this animal is extremely rare.

"Through your powerful news broadcast, we hope to educate the public that such an extremely rare animal can still be found in Singapore where most people are not aware of its existence."