Binturongs - bears, cats or both?

Binturong – bears, cats or both? 

Hello and welcome to the third episode of my ‘Conservation Park Tails’ blog! This episode will be centred around our pair of Binturongs, Bibsi and Thor, as well as highlighting some of the most important conservation work being performed around the world. 

As always, I will start by introducing the pair of Binturongs we have at Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park. In the rather cheesy selfie below, you will find Bibsi, our female Binturong. At the time of writing, she is 12 years old, having been born on the 15th August 2009. Bibsi had been on a rather interesting journey before arriving with us in July 2016, being born at ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo in the Netherlands before moving to Zoo Heidelburg, Germany in 2010. As you can probably tell from the photo, Bibsi is a very friendly Binturong and has even been known to use the shoulders of zookeepers to get to food bowls – talk about no regard for personal space! In the right-hand image, you will see our male, the brilliantly named Thor! Despite his grey hair, Thor is only 3 years old, having been born on the 22nd August 2018 at Bioparc Fuengirola, Spain. He came to the park in July 2019, to form a breeding pair with Bibsi, after our previous male Sunti proved incompatible for her. Thor is also relatively friendly, although he can be extremely food-motivated, and so you do have to watch your fingers when feeding him. Whilst we haven’t yet managed to breed Binturong here at the Conservation Park, we have witnessed mating between Thor and Bibsi on multiple occasions and so we hope they will be successful soon! 

I'm not sure who's the bigger poser - Me, or Bibsi?

Thor looking rather sleepy in his nest box.

Despite being relatively unknown, the Binturong really are a fascinating species. They are also known as bearcats in some areas of the world, probably due to the fact they look like a hybrid between the two species. The species is essentially arboreal, spending the most part of the day up in trees in the wild or on their climbing frames at the conservation park. Their prehensile tail certainly helps them do this, meaning they are equally capable of walking along the top of branches or hanging below them using their tail. Binturongs also produce a compound in their urine called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Whilst the chemistry behind the compound isn’t too important to us zoologists, it does mean that the species emit an odour rather reminiscent of popcorn. Before working with the species I wasn’t convinced their scent could be so similar, but I can now confirm for you it is completely true! 

In the wild, the Binturong is native to South and South-East Asia and can be found in countries such as India, Nepal and China. The species is classed as ‘Threatened’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, largely down to the fact that the population is estimated to have declined by 30% in the last 40 years. Population decline can be attributed to several factors; deforestation and the conversion of forests to plantations have played a large role, alongside the wildlife trade, with the Binturong often captured in some parts of the world for bushmeat and to keep as pets. 

Fortunately for the Binturong, there are some great conservation projects helping support the species both in captivity and in the wild. Binturongs, including our pair, are part of the European Breeding Programme, which aims to increase the captive population whilst also maintaining the essential genetic diversity within the population. Although, the species can be quite difficult to breed, the number of Binturongs in captivity is slowly growing – an early positive sign! There is also a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) dedicated solely to the conservation of Binturongs. Known as ABConservation, a nod to the species’ Latin name - Arctictis Binturong, the charity currently has a project based in the Philippines aiming to work with locals and increase knowledge of Binturong ecology. As mentioned in previous blog posts, working alongside and educating local people is essential to the long-term conservation of the species in their natural habitat. With some great conservation work being done both Southeast Asia and elsewhere in zoos around the world, here’s to hoping the future of the mysterious bearcat is a positive one! 

Thank you again for reading my blog, I really do appreciate the support. For the next edition of the blog, I would like to know which species you would like to learn about. Would you prefer to hear about our recently expanded family of Bushdogs or our bachelor group of Squirrel Monkeys? Please feel free to comment down below or vote on my twitter poll with your choice!