Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A civet (Arctictis binturong) of Southeast Asia with a long prehensile tail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The native name, and now the usual book-name, of Arctictis binturong, an Indian prehensile-tailed carnivorous mammal of the family Viverridæ and subfamily Arctictidinæ. Also called Iclides ater or I. albifrons, and formerly Viverra binturong. See Arctictis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A small Asiatic civet of the genus Arctilis.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a large species of civet, Arctictis binturong, of southern Asia

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun arboreal civet of Asia having a long prehensile tail and shaggy black hair

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Malay benturong, binturong.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Malay binturung.

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Examples

  • In 2002, an Asian bearcat known as a binturong showed up on an unsuspecting homeowner's front porch after fleeing his Beaver County owner, who had bought him as a baby -- illegally, it turned out.

    post-gazette.com - News 2009

  • In 2002, an Asian bearcat known as a binturong showed up on an unsuspecting homeowner's front porch after fleeing his Beaver County owner, who had bought him as a baby -- illegally, it turned out.

    post-gazette.com - News 2009

  • Roe noted that the agency also has received reports of other exotic animals being found throughout Pennsylvania, such as a binturong found on a Beaver County family's porch in 2002; an African serval, resembling a small cheetah, which had been illegally possessed and escaped from its Pittsburgh owner several times before being confiscated in 2001; and two wallabies that escaped from their owners in Ambler in 2001.

    Archive 2007-03-01 2007

  • Other notable mammals include carnivores, such as leopard Panthera pardus, wild dog or dhole Cuon alpinus (VU), leopard cat Felis bengalensis, fishing cat F. viverrina (LR), Javan mongoose Herpestes javanicus and several civets, including binturong Arctictis binturong.

    Ujung Kulon National Park and Krakatau Nature Reserve, Indonesia 2009

  • The Palawan binturong is hunted for meat and as pets, and the pangolin is hunted for its hide.

    Palawan rain forests 2008

  • Five endemic mammal species are considered vulnerable, including Acerodon leucotis, the Palawan treeshrew (Tupaia palawanensis), the Palawan stink badger (Mydaus marchei), the Palawan binturong (Arctictis binturong whitei), and a Sunda tree squirrel (Sundasciurus rabori).

    Palawan rain forests 2008

  • Other mammals include binturong Arctictis binturong, anteater Manis javanicus, oriental small-clawed otter Amblonyx cinerea, palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, oriental civet Viverra tangalunga and crab eating macaque Maccaca fasicularis.

    Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Philippines 2008

  • HANNA: But the binturong, Larry, is in the mongoose family.

    CNN Transcript Dec 25, 2006 2006

  • HANNA: But the binturong, Larry, is in the mongoose family.

    CNN Transcript Sep 1, 2006 2006

  • HANNA: Right, Larry, this is a binturong from Asia.

    CNN Transcript Jul 4, 2005 2005

Comments

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  • "...and he spent the first part of the day with Raffles' Javanese peacock, far finer than the Indian bird, a friendly binturong, the gardens, where he was joined by Mrs Raffles ... and the enormous hortus siccus—such a pleasant forenoon."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 176

    March 4, 2008

  • It's a bearcat! Seen here. I don't know why I thought it was a primate rather than a cat... catlike... rather than what it is.

    October 14, 2008

  • I've only ever seen one in a crummy zoo in Bukittinggi. It was a chained bearcat :-(

    October 14, 2008

  • Not such a pleasant forenoon, then.

    October 14, 2008

  • Scent variously described as smelling like popcorn or corn chips. Like my mom's feet.

    January 16, 2010

  • It's binturong since we've seen each other. Howya doin'?

    January 16, 2010