[Animals] Civet coffee has a disturbing secret and it is not its eschatological origin

[FNX Magokiler]

The most expensive coffee in the world is made from poop. Actually, the production system for this delicacy consists of coffee beans partially digested by a civet. A cup of kopi Iuak, kopi luwak or civet coffee, the name of this coffee, can cost 94 euros for 100 grams of unground beans.

The common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) is found in Southeast Asia, and has a long monkey-like tail, markings on its face like a raccoon, and stripes or spots on its body. It plays an important role in the food chain, feeding on insects and small reptiles as well as fruits such as coffee seeds and mangoes, and also serving as food for leopards, large snakes and crocodiles.

At first, the civet coffee trade boded well for these creatures. In Indonesia, the common palm civet attacked commercial fruit farms for food and was often considered a pest, but the growth of the kopi luwak industry encouraged local people to protect these civets for their valuable manure. Its digestive enzymes change the protein structure of coffee beans, which eliminates part of the acidity and transforms it into a smoother drink.

But as civet coffee has gained popularity, and Indonesia is growing enormously as a tourist destination, civets are now confined to cages on coffee plantations.

Scientists from the Oxford University Research Unit (UK) assessed the living conditions of nearly 50 wild civets kept in cages on 16 plantations in Bali.

 

 

The results, published in the journal Animal Welfare, present a gloomy picture.

The cloistered, unsanitary conditions and little space make this confinement a true torture for the animals inside. In addition to this, civets have an exclusive coffee-based diet in order to produce more and more kopi luwak.

But the most worrying thing about all this was the wire floor on which many of the animals have to live. "If they're standing on that type of wire mesh all the time, it's going to cause ulcers and abrasions. They have nowhere to go to get solid ground," said researcher D'Cruze. "It's a source of constant pain."

Additionally, many of the civets do not have access to clean water or the opportunity to interact with other civets.

Wild or in captivity: who knows?
All this suffering is for a luxury item. Part of what makes kopi luwak so special, experts say, is that wild civets pick and choose the choicest coffee beans to eat. Keeping civets in cages and feeding them with any type of grain makes us have a "second-class" product.

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.es/animales/perturbador-secreto-cafe-mas-caro-mundo-civetas-kopi-luak