Filipino coffee traders called on villagers in Mountain Province to stop capturing and eating civet cats (Paradoxurus phippinensis) because a decline in the cat population would cause a decline in the supply of one of the world's most expensive coffee varieties.

Civet cats eat ripe coffee berries, and local coffee traders gather the beans from their droppings to produce the most expensive coffee varieties in the world. The civet cat, locally known as motit or alamid, is a nocturnal animal that roams the forests of northern Philippines and dwells on rocks where fruit-bearing trees grow nearby.

The coffee beans could cost as much as $80 a pound in the local market and even more in the international market.

However, local villagers in the area kill the cats that stray into their backyards.

Vie Reyes, treasurer of Serenity Coffee Corp., a company that buys local coffee beans, said civet cats were often cooked as appetizers in the lowlands.

"The civet cat is threatened. If nothing is done about it, it will go extinct. These cats should be respected and left in their habitats," she said.

She said when her group recently visited the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City, Philippines, all they were shown was a photograph of the civet cat's tail.

"We asked for a picture to know how it looks like, and all the PAWB could ever show us was a picture of a tail. They told us the body was missing in the picture because [the cat] was already eaten," said Basil Reyes, president of the Serenity Coffee Corp.

Thomas Killip, presidential assistant for Cordillera affairs, said saving the civet cat would be part of the advocacy of the Sagada Coffee Council, which was formed to promote and market the local coffee industry.

"If locals will only realize that the cat is good in producing coffee, there will come a time that they will not hunt this animal. We should discourage people from hunting it because it has a value for all of us," Killip said.

Civet cat eats the ripest and sweetest varieties of coffee beans. Their digestive tracts filter the beans that pass through the intestines.

The beans that are not digested are used as in ingredient in the making of what Filipinos call "Coffee Alamid." Local producers say they wash the beans thoroughly and heat them to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bacteria.

The civet cat's favorite varieties are Arabica and Barako, according to Reyes. Reyes said the civet cat's droppings were usually collected from rocky areas.

She said the protection of the environment would be among the key steps in saving the civet cats.

Coffee beans sourced from civet cats have been enjoying wide patronage in Japan, the United States and some European countries, according to Reyes.

She said Japan Airlines had been promoting the coffee as the "Civet Coffee from the Philippines" or "Alamid coffee."