Bearcats!
It’s a what? It’s a binturong! Looking like something Dr. Seuss might have dreamed up, a binturong has a face like a cat’s and a body like a bear’s, long, shaggy black hair, stiff white whiskers, and a prehensile tail that’s as long as its body. Binturongs are also called bearcats, but that name is rather misleading since they are not related to bears OR cats. Instead, they are related to civets and fossas but look more like gigantic dust mops and smell like a freshly made batch of popcorn!
The hair coloration on binturongs can vary from black to brown with white, silver, or rust on the tips, which gives the binturong a grizzled appearance. Binturongs are classed as carnivores but eat mostly fruit. Their long ear tufts and reddish-brown eyes give them an endearing appearance but one that isn’t seen very often by humans.
The female binturong is one of only a few mammals that can experience delayed implantation, which allows the female to time the birth of her young with good environmental conditions. This means that mating can take place anytime of the year, because the female can control when her babies are born.
Females are about 20 percent larger and heavier than the males and are the dominant sex. A male sometimes stays with the female after mating, even after she has given birth. Baby binturongs are born with eyes sealed and remain hidden in the mother’s thick fur for their first few days. At six to eight weeks, they are the size of a domestic cat, have grown a coat of coarse hair, and begin to explore and eat solid food. Binturongs usually live by themselves or in small family groups consisting of a female and her immature offspring.
Communication is key. Most wildlife has some sort of odor, and many kinds use scent for communicating with others of their kind. Some, like skunks, use scent to keep predators away. Binturongs have a very distinctive smell—that of buttered popcorn! As pleasing as it might be to a human nose, that scent serves a purpose: to let other binturongs know they are trespassing on someone else’s territory or to discourage would-be predators. This can be a good thing if you’re looking for a mate, or a not-so-good thing if you’re the trespasser. The scent is made by an oil gland under the tail; as a binturong drags its tail through the branches it climbs on, it leaves its scent behind.
Binturongs also make lots of noises to communicate: snorts and chuckles when happy, a high-pitched wail that sounds like a cat screaming if bothered. They also make loud howls, low grunts, and hisses. A binturong who participates in educational programs at the San Diego Zoo makes a funny snort when he’s found something interesting on one of his walks!