Binturong Natural History

Range & habitat

These southeast Asian animals also known as bearcats live in the forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mayanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Habits

This is an omnivorous species which feeds on small mammals, birds, fish, insects and fruits – actually being one of the most important seed dispersal species in its range for some plants, such as strangler figs.

Due to its arboreal lifestyle it has a prehensile tail which is strong enough for the animals to balance on and even hang from when moving about in the trees.

Size

Length; 45 – 71cm

Weight; 3 – 7kg

Threats

These animals do sometimes get hunted as bushmeat and young individuals may be kept as pets by tribal communities, however these are generally not big enough impacts to warrant their vulnerable status on the IUCN red list, which is generally as a result of the deforestation of their homes.

The binturong at Sandwich Wildlife Park

Our binturong, Kali was born at Wingham Wildlife Park by cesarean section after which his mother didn’t want to feed him so he was hand reared in Wingham.