All binturongs have thick, black fur with bits of white throughout, especially on their face and head. Their muzzle is short and pointed with bristly brown hairs on it.

They grow 2-3 feet long, not counting their impressive tail that can measure a little over 2 feet long, and weigh about 30-60 pounds.

Binturongs are only one of two carnivorous mammals that have a prehensile tail; there’s a leathery patch on the tip for extra traction when climbing through the trees. Even when sleeping on the branches, their tail is anchored around it.

Like other species in their family, binturongs can rotate their feet backwards and use their claws to assist in climbing down trees head-first.

Sometimes known as a bearcat, their range is in different areas throughout Southeast Asia. They can live in a variety of forests such as evergreen, tall, hill, or secondary forests.

Binturongs are omnivorous, eating things such as insects, fruit, small mammals, birds, eggs, and especially figs. The binturong’s digestive enzymes are able to soften the hard shell of a strangler fig and spread the seeds in its droppings. This is beneficial to the strangler fig since they cannot spread their seeds without help.

Binturongs mate throughout the year, yet most births occur towards the beginning of the year. This is because binturongs can delay implantation after mating so their 3-month gestation lines up better with things like food availability. After 3 months, between 1-6 babies will be born blind, deaf, and weighing less than a pound!

The binturong looks like a bear, monkey, and cat mixed together, but belongs to the Viverridae family with other mammals such as civets and genets.

Being in the trees as well as their size equates to few predators outside of the occasional snake or tiger.

Due to their large size, binturongs cannot jump from tree to tree, and instead must climb down to the ground to go between them.

Since they walk flat-footed, they amble side to side like bears.