The ecology of Sulawesi Civet is known mostly from one study in Lore Lindu. Information from elsewhere is insufficient to tell whether its natural history varies across the island. It has been recorded in lowland forest, lower and upper montane forest, grasslands and near farms (Wemmer and Watling 1986, Musser and Dagosto 1987, Lee et al. 2003), and indeed Lee et al. (2003) stated that “this civet is not a specialist, neither restricted by elevation nor disturbance regime”. While it clearly uses a wide elevation range, the implication that populations can persist in heavily degraded areas lacks any supporting information and is at variance with the opinion of Wemmer and Watling (1986), who considered it strongly associated with primary forest, while accepting that animals sometimes wandered outside (at least 5 km from forest), perhaps specifically to prey on livestock.

Wemmer and Watling (1986) proposed that it takes about 5-10 days for an animal to cover its home range, predicted this range to be ‘large’, and considered that the species does not preferentially use trails within the forest, but goes anywhere (this latter may have ramifications for interpreting unbaited camera-trap encounter rates).

This species is perhaps a specialist consumer of Arenga palm fruit, but eats a wide variety of other material: the percentage occurrence of food items in 47 faeces found in the Lore Lindu Reserve was: 47% rodents, 45% Arenga palm fruit, 15% Pandanus palm fruit, 4% Sulawesi Dwarf Cuscus (Stigocuscus celebensus), 2% birds, 2% unidentified fruit, and 2% grass (Wemmer and Watling 1986). It appears to be nocturnal and solitary (Wemmer and Watling 1986, Lee et al. 2003). Wemmer and Watling (1986) observed its great agility (in captivity) and characterised it as strongly arboreal. However, Wemmer and Watling (1986) made clear that they were finding ground-level tracks in unbaited circumstances, and concluded it came to ground to forage more often than do species like Binturong (Arctictis binturong) and African Palm-civet (Nandinia binotata).

Sulawesi Civet is endemic to Sulawesi. It was previously known only from the north and central parts of the island (Wemmer and Watling 1986), but it is now known to occur also in the island's south-east: individuals were camera-trapped at Rawa Aopa National Park, Tanjung Peropa Wildlife Reserve and Mangolo Recreation Forest (Lee et al. 2003). There are no certain records from islands other than mainland Sulawesi, but a sighting potentially of this species on Kadiriri Island (Brugiere 2012, D. Brugiere pers. comm. 2015) indicates that it might also occur on the Togian archipelago; these islands do support other highly distinct mammals endemic to Sulawesi and adjacent islands, such as babirousas Babyrousa and black macaques Macaca. Similarly, many of the people living around the forest on Buton Island, off south-east Sulawesi, have a name for a second species of civet (additional to Malay Civet Viverra tangalunga) matching the description of the Sulawesi endemic (Seymour et al. 2010). Sulawesi Civet has not, however, been found in two years of camera-trapping on the island (3,000–4,000 camera-trap-nights over 100–900 m a.s.l.; J. Brodie in litt. 2015), and there is no even provisional sighting in over 20 years of multi-disciplinary biological fieldwork on the island (including investigations of the animals kept in homes and traded in markets; T. Martin pers. comm. 2015, N. Priston pers. comm. 2015, H. Hilser pers. comm. 2015). These remarks should be seen in the context of how this species has previously been overlooked; for example, the capable collector H.C. Raven collected intensively in 1915–1918 without finding the species, including much effort in what is now Lore Lindu National Park, an area in which the species was found to be "common" 60 years later (Wemmer and Watling 1986); it is unlikely to have colonised during the interim. Even villagers living close to the species are often not specifically aware of its existence (Wemmer and Watling 1986). Thus, lack of village familiarity should not be seen as an indication that it is not in any given area.

Skeletal remains in the Bola Batoe and Tjadang caves in south-west Sulawesi indicate a former wider distribution (Hooijer 1950); it should not be excluded that the species awaits rediscovery in that part of the island.

Sulawesi Civet is known to occur from sea-level up to 2,600 m (Wemmer and Watling 1986).

Sulawesi Civet is known from several protected areas including Rawa Aopa National Park, Tanjung Peropa Wildlife Reserve, Mangolo Recreation Forest, Lore Lindu National Park (NP), and Bogani Nani Wartabone NP (Wemmer and Watling 1986, Lee et al. 2003, V. Dinets pers. comm. 2015). This species is totally protected in Indonesia (Shepherd 2008).

Understanding of the conservation status of many Asian small carnivores has advanced greatly since the mid 1990s with the widespread use of camera-trapping. This camera-trapping has, however, rarely been targeted at small carnivores: it often focuses on big cats Panthera and Neofelis, Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), and other high-profile species. None of these inhabit Sulawesi; consequently, camera-trapping has been rather limited on the island, and Sulawesi Civet remains very poorly known. Nonetheless, various large mammals of high conservation concern on Sulawesi (babirusas Babyrousa, endemic macaques Macaca, and anoas Bubalus) receive some level of conservation research and intervention; camera-trapping and activities concerning these genera should be encouraged to seek and collate records of the endemic civet to allow a more informed assessment of its conservation needs.

Maintaining the habitat integrity of the forest protected area network of Sulawesi is probably the most important conservation intervention for this species. More precise recommendations for intervention require further investigation before formulation. More information is specifically needed about: (i) the extent to which retributory killing is a threat to the population rather than simply a cause of death for individuals; (ii) assessment whether the indications from North Sulawesi that there is no significant demand for trade or consumption apply across the island; (iii) evaluation of the relative merits of potential techniques to survey the species' distribution and population status, including, at least, baited and non-baited camera-trapping; (iv) use of the most effective and efficient detection method(s), to determine current distribution, population status and habitat use, specifically, how patchy within old-growth forest the occurrence is; (v) the extent to which the species is kept and desired by civet-lover clubs in Sulawesi and elsewhere in Indonesia. Clarification of any aspect of its natural history might also provide information of high management value.