Binturongs

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Binturongs

Post by wolf567 » Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:54 am

I thought I would make a topic about Binturong's as couldn't see one already.

They are amazing animals that smell like popcorn! Very strange but very interesting. Here is a little bit more info on them:
Arkive wrote:One of only two carnivores with a prehensile tail, the other being the kinkajou (Potos flavus), the binturong is a distinctive civet that skilfully traverses the canopy of tall tropical forests
Arkive wrote:The binturong is a versatile, generalist feeder, and preys upon a variety of small mammals and insects, and also eats fruits, leaves and shoots. Rather than jumping between trees, like the more acrobatic primates, the binturong uses its prehensile tail as an extra hand, moving slowly, but efficiently, carefully placing each footstep, although it will occasionally drop to the ground to move between forest gaps, and even swim in rivers and catch fish.
http://www.arkive.org/binturong/arctictis-binturong/

Has anyone ever seen or heard of Binturong's before?
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Re: Binturongs

Post by Koa » Tue Feb 09, 2016 1:26 pm

I have never heard of one. Those whiskers are massive!

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Re: Binturongs

Post by Kamaal » Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:52 pm

Oh wow, never heard of it, it looks quite interesting.
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Re: Binturongs

Post by Sambhur » Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:32 pm

There's one of these at Taronga Zoo! It's adorable and I try to take photos of it each time I go, but it's almost always asleep in its little box perch thing which makes it difficult to get a decent pic.
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Re: Binturongs

Post by wolf567 » Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:39 pm

Another cool fact is that they have the ability to rotate their rear ankles 180 degrees! This means they can descend trees quicker and also see if there are any threats at the bottom of the tree.

Sambhur the pair where I work are also very difficult to get decent pictures of. They are always at the top of trees in their enclosure and always asleep! I actually saw them walking around at eye level late last year, but was working so didn't have my camera.
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Re: Binturongs

Post by Kamaal » Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:42 pm

wolf567 wrote:Another cool fact is that they have the ability to rotate their rear ankles 180 degrees! This means they can descend trees quicker and also see if there are any threats at the bottom of the tree.
And we say that aliens haven't yet visited Earth... I had no idea, thanks for the info Blaze!
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Re: Binturongs

Post by Samber » Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:23 am

Hmm..never heard of one, they look quite cute x3
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Re: Binturongs

Post by Koa » Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:56 am

I've managed to see one of these now that I work at my zoo. It's nice to see them in-person.

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Re: Binturongs

Post by Samber » Mon Jun 06, 2016 10:29 am

Koa wrote:I've managed to see one of these now that I work at my zoo. It's nice to see them in-person.
I wish i could see one, they look so adorable :3
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Re: Binturongs

Post by psy » Thu Oct 20, 2016 2:03 pm

I have never heard of them before, but I'm glad I know about them now. Those whiskers are just amazing.

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Re: Binturongs

Post by wolf567 » Tue Dec 13, 2016 9:11 am

Earlier this month Minnesota Zoo posted a video on their facebook page of their 8 week old binturong!

Check out the video here: https://www.facebook.com/mnzoo/videos/1 ... 866838788/
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