https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m The bearcat, also known as the binturong, is a truly strange and poorly known animal. Let's explore! en-us 2020-02-18 14:08:17 UTC 2026-03-11 04:57:12 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f43b.png keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/447054046 2020-02-18 19:42:40 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/447054046 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/447055422 If you find yourself staring at a terrifying dark creature with glowing eyes, I hope you're in a rainforest in Southeast Asia- because then, it's a good chance you stumbled upon a bearcat! Otherwise, run.

Unfortunately, binturong populations have declined more than 30% over the last 30 years due largely to deforestation, hunting, and the illegal pet trade. This has led to their classification as Vulnerable by the IUCN, and no population estimate readily available.

There are several subspecies throughout their ranges, and molecular work is being done to decide if these are genetically divergent enough to become their own species.

Source: Semiadi, Gono & Ross, Joanna & Hearn, Andrew & Hearn, Andrew & Heydon, Matthew & Samejima, Hiromitsu & Mathai, John & Augeri, D. & Fredriksson, Gabriella & Lim, Norman & Rustam, Rustam & Mohamed, Azlan & Boonratana, Ramesh & Brodie, Jedediah & Giordano, Anthony & Nakashima, Yoshihiro & van Berkel, Tim & Hon, Jason & Loken, Brent & Wilting, Andreas. (2016). Predicted distribution of the binturong Arctictis binturong (Mammalia: Carnivora: Viverridae) on Borneo. The Raffles bulletin of zoology. 33. 96-102. ]]> 2020-02-18 19:44:40 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/447055422 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475384448 Articles for the general public typically refer to the binturong as "strange," "unusual," and try to conceptualize it's existence by referring to it as a mix of creatures- like a "hybrid bear and cat." While the impact of this is unclear, the press is seldom bad. ]]> 2020-03-25 20:37:02 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475384448 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475386684 It seems to be a running theme that any article geared for the general public pokes fun at the bearcat, by acting confused about what it is. ]]> 2020-03-25 20:38:28 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475386684 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475389212 Well, take a look! They're actually related to civets. Much like their relatives, they are omnivorous, but their diet relies heavily on fruit.

In fact, it relies heavily on a specific kind of fruit. Figs! A recent study found that their diet consists of nearly 90% fig consumption, and their movement patterns suggest that they follow the availability of fig trees. This makes them vital to dispersing fig seeds, a key component to the diets of many other animals in the forest ecosystems! This finding is new, and one of the first major efforts to look at diet and movement relations in the species. In turn, it has identified a major role the binturongs play in their ecosystems!

Source: Nakabayashi, M., Ahmad, A.H. Short-term movements and strong dependence on figs of binturongs (Arctictis binturong) in Bornean rainforests. Eur J Wildl Res 64, 66 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-018-1232-8]]> 2020-03-25 20:40:12 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475389212 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475398574 This is a photo of me getting nibbled on by one at my neighbor's house in the Philippines in 2013. It's hard to forget an animal that smells like popcorn, especially when it nibbles you instead of vice versa. Looking back, it was likely that this animal was trafficked in an illegal pet trade before I got to meet it. I know now that interactions between humans and wildlife are not worth the stability of the wild animal's population, even though many captive binturongs are used to profit off these interactions.

Of notable interest, this was a bearcat in the Philippines. There was some contingency about the species status of the Palawan bearcat, and a recent study identified these as descendants from the Borneo population that had dispersed to the Philippines. They've since been demoted to their own subspecies as a consequence of this research.

Source: Géraldine Veron, Agathe Debruille, Pauline Kayser, Desamarie Antonette P Fernandez, Aude Bourgeois, Genetic diversity and structure of the binturong Arctictis binturong (Carnivora: Viverridae) – status of the elusive Palawan binturong and implications for conservation, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 188, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 302–318, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz100]]> 2020-03-25 20:46:39 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475398574 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475407237 Roads have been a major threat to Binturongs. Beyond immediate impacts through vehicle collisions, the roads fragment habitat and provide easy access for poachers to enter the forest and collect these animals for the pet trade.

Despite knowing their populations are in decline, there are no real management efforts in place to preserve these animals. They're Critically Endangered in China, and protected in Malaysia, but no population monitoring efforts are taking place. There's no known control for harvest management, no conservation sites identified for the species, nor any regional based plans in place. Most protections are simply a consequence of protected areas. In captivity, there is a push for captive breeding programs, but no tangible efforts to exclusively breed individuals from the same clades/areas of origin, and an extremely low pool for genetics.

Thus, the question arises- why are we planning for re-release of captive individuals with poor, muddy genetics, rather than conserving the unknown numbers we have left in the wild? In-situ conservation should be explored for the species, beginning with population monitoring to understand exactly what we're working with.

Source: Cosson, L. & Jr, L. & Zubaid, Akbar & Subramaniam, Vellayan & Tillier, A. & Veron, Geraldine & Grassman, L.. (2007). Genetic diversity of captive binturongs (Arctictis binturong, Viverridae, Carnivora): Implications for conservation. Journal of Zoology. 271. 386 - 395. 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00209.x. ]]> 2020-03-25 20:52:56 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475407237 keara_clancy https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475409910 They smell like popcorn. Probably because they're soaked in pee.

But seriously, among their weirdest anatomical features includes a chemical compound associated with chemical scent "marking" for social behavior. The chemical responsible is "2-Acetyl-1-Pyroline," also known as 2-AP. Both sexes contain it, particularly in their urine, but males have higher concentrations. These chemicals are thought to attribute to the binturong's ability to communicate, mostly in relation to reproduction since they are solitary in the wild.

Source: Greene, L.K., Wallen, T.W., Moresco, A. et al. Reproductive endocrine patterns and volatile urinary compounds of Arctictis binturong: discovering why bearcats smell like popcorn. Sci Nat 103, 37 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1361-4]]> 2020-03-25 20:54:38 UTC https://padlet.com/keara_clancy/8vfoq9kh8i9m/wish/475409910