A small, slender civet of dense forests in South and Southeast Asia, with three fine dark stripes along its back that give it its scientific name ('three-striped') and often lead to confusion with the Asian Palm Civet.
Slender-bodied, with the snout, ears, legs and tail dark brown to greyish-black, often with a white stripe running from the nose to the forehead and three well-marked, clear-edged dark stripes from the neck to the base of the tail. Distinguished from the Asian Palm Civet by its more linear, sharper-edged stripes and notably larger eyes.
Strongly arboreal, leaving claw marks on trunks used for climbing; droppings contain abundant undigested fruit seeds, as the species is an important seed disperser in the forest.
Dense forest from north-east India to mainland Southeast Asia, Borneo, Sumatra and Java.
Mainly frugivorous, supplemented with small vertebrates and invertebrates.
Highly arboreal and nocturnal, moving almost exclusively through canopy branches.
Widespread and assessed as Least Concern, with no evidence of significant global decline.
No major threats identified on a global scale.
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