Binturong, the Bearcat You Should Know
The binturong is a family of verridae or known as wolves. They have a long strong bodies and black fur which is gray on its top. It is native to South and Southeast Asia. Binturong is available every day in our park in the Animal Educational Presentations or in their exhibit. Here are 5 unique facts about Binturong.
- Called a bearcat
Do you know that Binturong has various names in many places? One of the most popular names is a bearcat. It is because their face looks like a cat, meanwhile the way they walk is similar to a bear. Therefore, they are called bearcat. As stated by Wired, the binturong is not relative to any type of cat or bear. Even though, it looks very similar to them.
- A carnivore that has a prehensile tail
Binturong has a unique tail. Its tail is very strong and thick. That tail is mostly used as an “extra hand” to take or hold anything like a hand in common. Furthermore, the small binturong mostly used it to climb and hang on a tree branch.
This tail has a function as an extra or added hand called as prehensile. This prehensile tail is only can be found in species of monkey and rarely to be found in carnivore animals. There are two carnivores that have this prehensile tail: kinkajou and binturong.
- It smells like a popcorn
Like other wolves in common, Binturong can also release a unique smell from the body. This smell comes from a gland in the bottom of their tail. Unlike the other wolves which produce a bad smell, this binturong smells like poop corn.
- Females can postpone their child’s birth
Not like other mammals or even humans that cannot exactly predict their baby’s birth, female binturong can do this. They can postpone until they think that it is the right time. They will find the best environmental condition to give birth to the baby.
- Categorized as a carnivore, but like to eat fruits
Officially, Binturong is classified as a carnivore animal. They usually eat the meat of other animals like fish and small birds. Animal Diversity says that they sometimes prefer to eat fruits. Even though, their main diet is meat.
Those are 5 unique facts about Binturong. Let’s find them face-to-face only in Bali Safari Park.