If the thought of drinking civet coffee made from Asian civet poop is a turnoff, there might be another reason to reconsider the drink.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) issued a warning to tourists in Bali this week after investigators showed secret footage of civet feces containing partially digested coffee beans.
The footage shows the animals being kept in cages covered in feces, dirt and rotting coffee berries, with many of them suffering from open wounds, according to PETA. The footage was obtained by PETA investigators while working undercover at a farm in Catur, Bali, said Jason Baker, the organization’s senior vice president.
“Tour guides in Bali often mislead tourists, claiming Cat poop coffee is extracted from the excrement of wild civet cats,” he said, referring to the Indonesian name for the coffee. “However, the reality is that much of this coffee is the product of raising these animals in cruel conditions on farms.”
According to PETA, this discovery is not the first. According to the organization, a previous investigation in 2022 also found that Asian civets were kept in captivity, during which time they were fed a steady diet of coffee berries. Coffee berries are the fruit of the coffee tree. Usually coffee is made from the seeds or beans of this fruit.
In the wild, civets, which are not cats, eat a variety of fruits such as mangoes, bamboos and rambutans, as well as insects and small mammals.
Baker stressed that the problem was not limited to Bali, but also existed in Indonesia and other countries that supply coffee.
“Without civet civets, it’s impossible to generate the numbers needed for export,” he said. “Despite global attention and condemnation, the inhumane treatment of these sentient beings persists in this industry.”
Baker says there’s a lot to enjoy about coffee in Indonesia. “But the confinement, pain and sorrow that civets endure in order to drink cat poop coffee is not among them. Visitors be warned: stay away from civet coffee.”
why people drink it
Ironically, the shock value of where the coffee comes from is why many tourists choose to try it.
Additionally, “there is a misconception that civet coffee… has a unique taste, and companies tend to perpetuate this misconception to attract consumers and offer higher prices for their products,” Baker said.
A small civet is kept in a cage in Bali.
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The price of coffee has also attracted attention. Prices range from $45 to $600 per pound, which is why it’s called ” One of the most expensive coffees in the world.
These animals are nocturnal mammals native to South and Southeast Asia. threatened in indonesia — Increased production of kopi poop coffee is fueling the illegal wildlife trade, according to the nonprofit Wildlife Alliance.
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