Saturday, August 25, 2007

Go Binturongs, go!

My dad was reading the newspaper and saw a team called the Bearcats . So many teams are named for animals we know well-- tigers, eagles, falcons, bulldogs-- but my dad was curious to know what exactly what a bearcat was. A bear? A cat? Niether! It is known as a binturong, and here is what it looks like:
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They live in Asia, and can be vicious if cornered. One interesting fact is they smell like buttered popcorn! They are "vulnerable" due to habitat destruction and poaching. I think I saw one at the Virgina Zoo a long time ago around 2000. They are related to the civet. Here is what a civet looks like:
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