The Binturong: The Bearcat That Smells Like Popcorn
Deep in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, there lives an animal that sounds like a riddle. It is called a bearcat, but it is not a bear. It is not a cat, either. It climbs like a monkey, swims like an otter, and — most wonderfully of all — it smells like a fresh bag of buttered popcorn at the movies.
Meet the binturong (Arctictis binturong), one of the strangest and most lovable animals you have probably never heard of. It is rare, shy, wonderfully weird, and once you learn its story, you will never walk past a popcorn stand again without smiling.
What Is a Binturong? Neither Bear nor Cat
First, let us clear up the name. The binturong is nicknamed the bearcat because its stocky body and shambling walk look a little bear-like, while its face — with its pointed ears and long, bristling whiskers — looks a little cat-like. But the binturong belongs to neither family. It is a viverrid, a member of the same family as civets and genets.
A full-grown binturong is a substantial animal. From nose to tail base it measures roughly 60 to 95 centimetres, and its thick, muscular tail is nearly as long again. Adults typically weigh between 9 and 20 kilograms — about the size of a medium dog — and, unusually for mammals, the females are often larger than the males. Its coat is long, shaggy, and dark, ranging from black to deep brown with frosted grey tips that give it a tousled, just-woken-up look.
Then there are the whiskers. A binturong's whiskers are long, white, and impossible to miss, fanning out from its muzzle like feathery antennae. Like a cat's whiskers, they help the animal feel its way through dark branches, judge gaps, and sense the world around its face when its eyes cannot do the job alone.
The Popcorn Mystery: Why Does the Binturong Smell Like a Movie Theatre?
Here is the fact that made the binturong famous among zookeepers. Walk past a binturong enclosure, and you may catch a warm, buttery, unmistakably popcorn-like scent in the air. People used to joke that someone in the zoo was sneaking snacks. The real source is far more interesting: the smell comes from the binturong itself, from its urine.
Scientists have studied this sweet-smelling puzzle and found the answer in chemistry. Binturong urine contains a compound called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, known as 2-AP for short. That same compound is what gives freshly popped popcorn, warm basmati rice, and pandan leaves their cosy, toasty aroma. When a binturong scent-marks a branch, the 2-AP in its urine rises into the air, and any human nose nearby reads it as popcorn.
Scent-marking is how binturongs send messages. They rub scent glands under their tails onto branches, leaves, and tree trunks, leaving behind a personal signature that tells other binturongs: this branch is taken, I was here. The popcorn scent is simply a side effect of the chemistry in that message — a happy accident that turns a territorial memo into one of nature's most delightful surprises. The scent also lingers for days, letting the next binturong that passes know exactly who was there and when.
A Tail Like a Fifth Hand
The binturong's tail deserves a closer look, because it is one of the most remarkable tails in the animal kingdom. It is long, thick, muscular, and — crucially — prehensile, meaning the animal can grip with it, curl it around branches, and use it like an extra hand for balance and support.
The binturong is one of only two members of the order Carnivora with a fully prehensile tail. The other is the kinkajou of Central and South America. As the binturong moves slowly along a branch high above the forest floor, its tail wraps, grips, and steadies it, acting as a safety rope while its paws reach for the next fig or leaf.
Watching a binturong climb is a lesson in patience. These animals are slow, deliberate movers. Each foot is placed with care, each branch tested, each step measured. In a world of animals built for speed, the binturong has chosen the opposite strategy: move slowly, hold on tight, and never fall.
What Do Binturongs Eat? Mostly Fruit, With a Side of Everything
Binturongs are omnivores, which means they eat a bit of everything — but fruit is the heart of their diet. Figs are a particular favourite, and binturongs play an important role in the rainforest by eating figs and other fruits and then spreading the seeds far and wide through their droppings. In this way, a slow-moving bearcat helps grow the very forest it lives in.
Alongside fruit, binturongs will nibble leaves and shoots, and they also eat small animals, birds' eggs, insects, and even fish when the opportunity comes along. They are good swimmers and are not afraid of water. That combination — climbing, swimming, fruit-eating, and patient hunting — makes the binturong one of the rainforest's most versatile residents.
Where Do Binturongs Live?
Binturongs live in the tropical rainforests of South and Southeast Asia, in countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with populations also found in southern China. They spend most of their lives high in the treetops, in the dense canopy where branches knit together into a green highway above the ground.
They are mostly nocturnal, active at night and asleep during the day, curled up in the fork of a tree or tucked into a hollow trunk. This is one reason so few people have ever seen one in the wild. Add their dark fur, their slow movements, and their love of the highest branches, and the binturong becomes a master of staying hidden.
Sadly, that hiding is not enough to keep them safe. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the binturong as Vulnerable, which means its numbers are falling. Its rainforest home is being cut down for farming and timber, and in some places binturongs are hunted for meat or captured for the pet trade. Because they breed slowly — females usually have just one or two babies at a time — populations take a long time to recover when they are harmed.
The Sounds of a Binturong: Grumbles, Chuckles, and Laughs
If you are lucky enough to hear a binturong, you are in for a treat. Binturongs are surprisingly vocal animals. They grunt, grumble, and huff as they go about their business, and when they are happy or excited, they make a chuckling, laughing sound that keepers describe as one of the most charming noises in the animal world.
They also hiss and growl when they feel threatened, and mothers murmur softly to their babies.
Binturong Babies: Born in the Treetops
Binturong mothers usually give birth to one or two cubs, high up in a tree hollow or a sheltered fork. The babies are born with their eyes closed and stay close to their mother for weeks, nursing and growing strong before they start to explore the branches around the nest.
Young binturongs stay with their mother for months, learning the slow art of climbing, the skill of balancing with a prehensile tail, and which fruits are safe to eat. It is a long, gentle childhood — and it helps explain why binturong families are so small and why every cub matters.
Can You Keep a Binturong as a Pet? The Honest Answer
With a face like that and a popcorn scent, it is tempting to ask: could a binturong be a pet? The honest answer is no. These are wild, arboreal, nocturnal animals that need tall rainforest canopy, huge territories, and a varied diet to stay healthy. They are strong, sharp-clawed, and not suited to life in a house. In many places, keeping one is also illegal.
The best way to enjoy binturongs is to visit them in a responsible zoo or wildlife centre, support rainforest conservation, and share their story. The more people know about the bearcat that smells like popcorn, the more people will care about protecting the forests it calls home.
Other animals have their own wonderful secrets, too — from the shoebill stork, a dinosaur-like bird that stares into your soul, to why cats knead with their paws, a habit that begins in kittenhood and never really leaves them. Every animal has a story worth telling, and the binturong's story is one of the sweetest of all. You can read more about the animals we love on our About page.
So the next time you catch the warm, buttery smell of popcorn, pause for a moment and think of a shaggy, slow-moving, whiskered bearcat, high in a rainforest canopy, leaving a sweet-smelling message on a branch for the next binturong that passes by. Somewhere in the dark green treetops of Southeast Asia, the world's most delicious-smelling animal is going about its night — and most of the world has no idea it exists. Now you do.