African Civet is widely distributed in Africa from Senegal and Mauritania to southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and southern Somalia southwards in all countries to northeastern Namibia, north and east Botswana, and northeastern South Africa. It is present on Zanzibar Island and has been introduced to Sao Tome Island . The species is recorded from almost sea level to altitudes of 5,000 m a.s.l. on Mt Kilimanjaro.