Fun Facts

The real meaning of the word “binturong” has been lost, as the language it is derived from is extinct.

Do you smell popcorn? It’s the binturongs! They communicate through scents and smell just like buttered popcorn or corn chips! They are also very vocal and will hiss, purr, chuckle, grunt, wail, and howl.

Binturongs are excellent climbers and are largely arboreal, preferring to live high in the forest canopies. They can rotate their ankles to allow them to climb down trees headfirst. They are also excellent swimmers!

Binturongs are the only Old-World mammals and one of only two carnivores with prehensile tails (the other is the kinkajou). They have leathery patches at the tips of their tails to give them extra traction and will wrap their tails around tree branches to stabilize themselves while sleeping.

They are considered a keystone species because they are one of the only dispersers of the strangler fig, whose seeds cannot germinate without assistance. They have the digestive enzymes necessary to soften strangler fig seed coats.