Absurd Creatures | This Bearcat (Yeah, It's Real) Smells Like Popcorn

(relaxing music)

If you've smelt popcorn,

you've spelt the strange scent of a binturong,

also known as a bearcat.

It roams the treetops in Southeast Asian rainforests,

excreting the very same compound

that gives popcorn its smell.

It does this to mark its territory

and to communicate with potential mates,

who I guess love popcorn.

The binturong doesn't leap from tree to tree

like a monkey, instead opting to climb up and down.

But it does have a prehensile tail.

In fact, it's one of only two critters

in the order Carnivora,

maybe dogs and cats and bears,

but not monkeys or people, that has one.

The other is the equally odd kinkajou,

shown here shooting an Apple commercial, apparently.

Anyway, in addition to the prehensile tail,

the binturong's ankles rotate 180 degrees

to help it scale trees.

This is a nocturnal hunter,

but it's really more of an omnivore.

It eats its fruit and veggies like its mummy told it to.

And that means it has a pivotal ecological role

in the rainforest.

The wind doesn't blow strong enough here

to disperse seeds widely.

But that's where the binturong comes in.

It eats the fruits and does its business,

depositing the seeds far and wide.

And if that's bintu-wrong, I don't wanna be bintu-right.