What Foods Do Binturongs Smell Like? The Movie Theatre Connection Explained

The animal kingdom is full of fascinating creatures, each with their unique characteristics and behaviors. One such creature that stands out is the Binturong, also known as the Asian Bearcat. This peculiar mammal has a distinctive feature that sets it apart from the rest. It is that strange feature that creates an unlikely deep connection between this species and movie theatres.

The Binturong: An Introduction

The Binturong, a member of the Viverridae family, is a medium-sized mammal native to South-East Asia. It’s often referred to as the “bearcat,” due to its physical resemblance to both bears and cats. However, it’s not related to either of these animals; it’s a civet.

Binturongs have long, heavy bodies, short, stocky legs, and a face that’s a blend of a cat’s and a bear’s. Their coats are long, coarse, and shaggy, which helps keep them dry. The main area of the coat is dark brown to black in color, but it is tipped with gray. Their faces are usually a paler color. Females are about 20 percent larger and heavier than males, making this a sexually dimorphic species.

The Scent: A Unique Trait

Now, let’s address the question that brought us here: What foods do Binturongs smell like? The answer is quite surprising – Binturongs smell like hot, buttered popcorn! This unique scent is not a result of their diet but is produced by a chemical compound in their urine. This compound also happens to be the major aroma compound in toasted bread and cooked rice.

Binturongs mark their territory using scent glands located near the tail, which produce this popcorn-like smell. This unique scent serves as a form of communication among Binturongs, signaling their presence and establishing territory. It’s a fascinating adaptation that not only makes the Binturong unique but also quite endearing to humans. An animal that makes you think of the pleasant smell of butter popcorn in movie theatres.

The Binturong’s Lifestyle

Binturongs are primarily nocturnal creatures that spend most of their time high in the forest canopy. They love to bask in the sun and sleep during the day. They move slowly through the trees to look for fruit, their primary food source. Because of this, they have often been confused with sloths.

Binturongs have several adaptations for their arboreal lifestyle. They have prehensile tails, which they use like an extra hand when climbing around in the treetops. A leathery patch at the tip helps the tail grip the branches a Binturong climbs through. Binturongs can rotate their wrists 180º so they can grip when climbing head-first down trees.

The Binturong’s Diet

Although Binturongs are classified as carnivorous, they mainly eat fruit. They supplement this by hunting and eating small mammals, birds, insects, fish, and eggs. Despite their popcorn-like scent, popcorn is not on their menu. Perhaps since they smell popcorn so much, they have grown to dislike the food itself.

The Binturong’s Controversial Interaction with Humans

Binturongs are sometimes hunted for their meat, skin, and for the pet trade. They also have body parts that are used in the Chinese medicine market. They are threatened by habitat loss, mainly due to deforestation for agriculture, particularly in the southern parts of the Binturongs’ natural distribution, and increases in human settlement.

The Binturong is a fascinating creature with a unique popcorn-like scent. This scent, combined with its bear-cat appearance and interesting behaviors, makes the Binturong one of the most intriguing animals in the world.

As we continue to learn more about these amazing creatures, we can only hope that efforts to conserve their habitats and protect them from hunting will be successful. After all, the world would be a less interesting place without the popcorn-scented Binturong.