Although the habitat requirements of this species are not well known, it appears to have a wide altitudinal and ecological range, from coastal plains and open dry lowlands to montane heather moorlands and Afroalpine grasslands (Gaubert in press). Diaz Behrens and Van Rompaey (2002) provide records of this species in montane dry forest (where dominant species include Tree Heath Erica arborea, Curry Bush Hypericum revolutum and Abyssinian Rose Rosa abyssinica), and recorded them to 3,750 m asl. Haltenorth and Diller (1980) state that the Ethiopian Genet is sometimes found near urban areas, but for such a poorly known species this requires confirmation.

Red List Category

Red List Criteria

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Justification

History

• 1996
  Data Deficient
• 1994
  Insufficiently Known
  (Groombridge 1994)
• 1990
  Insufficiently Known
  (IUCN 1990)
• 1988
  Insufficiently Known
  (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)

The current population status is not known, but they are evidently rare (Gaubert in press). Yalden et al. (1996) considered them very uncommon. Known from fewer than 20 museum specimens (Diaz Behrens and Van Rompaey 200).

Unknown

Major threats to this species are unclear. Yalden et al. (1996) mentioned habitat loss due to felling and cultivation in Acacia woodland and thornbush, together with pressures of herds of domestic stock in both arid lowlands and high plateaux.

In Ethiopia, only three National Parks are likely to support populations of the Ethiopian Genet: Yangudi-Rassa, Awash and Simien Mountains (Gaubert in press). There is a need for further survey work to better understand the habitat requirements and population status of the species.