Imagine you are trekking inside a dense forest, famished. Suddenly your nose catches the smell of buttered popcorn! Well, the chances of finding a bag of popcorn in the middle of the dense forest are extremely dim. But there can very well be a bearcat prowling somewhere right behind you!
The forest bearcat, also known as binturong, is a medium-sized, carnivore that inhabits the rainforests of Southeast Asia, especially India, Bangladesh, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and the Philippines.
They have prehensile tails that resemble the monkeys and their white whiskers and purring sound remind us of cats.
But what has popcorn got to do with them?
Binturongs mark their territories by leaving behind a trail of scent that smells very much like buttered popcorn!
It might sound gross, but a local coffee brewed from the beans that pass down its digestive system, also fetches good money.
Much of this animal’s characteristic behaviour has not been extensively observed. But it is known that they have a sweet tooth for fig fruits. They make good pets, thanks to their mostly gentle behaviour, unless provoked! Like most other endangered species, the Binturongs too, are under the threat of being wiped off from their natural habitat.
Picture Credit : Google
