In a corner of Ubud, Indonesia, a civet cat is kept in a cage. It is no longer the wild spirit that roams freely through the jungle, but a slave who is forced to produce the "King of Coffee Beans" for humans.
This rare product, called "cat poop coffee beans", sells for up to $1,300 per kilogram and is a hot and sought-after item in the international market. What is special about it is that these coffee beans are obtained by civet cats after eating coffee cherries, after their stomach acid fermentation, digestion and excretion. This process gives the coffee beans a unique aroma and smooth taste, with hardly any bitter taste, making it unforgettable.
However, it is this uniqueness and high ** that makes some people start to use their brains. Due to the extremely scarce production of natural cat poop coffee beans, the annual output is only about 500 kilograms, which is far from meeting the market demand. As a result, traders in Indonesia and the Philippines began to capture wild civet cats and force them to feed them in order to obtain more of this special coffee bean.
Photographer: Carola Frentzen
This practice not only deprives civets of their freedom, but also has serious consequences for their health. Being kept in cages for long periods of time and forced to consume large quantities of coffee cherries overwhelmed the bodies of these civets. However, none of this seems to be as important as the high profits in the eyes of the vendors.
Thankfully, with the continuous development of civet cat breeding technology in captivity, people have begun to try to obtain this precious coffee bean through captivity. At present, the production of captive civet coffee beans has reached about 50 tons, although it still cannot meet all the market demand, but at least it has greatly reduced the pressure on wild civets.
However, even with captive breeding, we still can't ignore the civet cats that are still kept in cages. They pay a huge price every day for human greed, and their freedom and happiness are ruthlessly deprived just to produce those expensive coffee beans.
We should reflect on whether such an approach is really worth it. Should we sacrifice these innocent lives to satisfy our appetites? Should we cherish and protect these rare species more than seeing them as a tool to make money?
Cat poop coffee beans are indeed a very precious coffee bean, and its aroma and taste are incomparable to other coffee beans. But that doesn't mean we can do anything to get it. We should respect every life and respect the laws of nature, rather than trying to change it.
Hopefully, we can work together to make this world a better and fairer place. Let those civet cats in cages be freed again, and let those rare species get the protection they deserve. Only in this way can we truly achieve a harmonious coexistence between man and nature.