Looks like a bear, smells like a popcorn!
FOLLOW your nose to meet one of Exmoor Zoo s newest additions – the popcorn weasel. In fact the burly tree dwelling animal is a binturong, from the same family as civet cats and the strong scent it emits smells just like hot buttered popcorn! The female
FOLLOW your nose to meet one of Exmoor Zoo's newest additions - the "popcorn weasel."
In fact the burly tree dwelling animal is a binturong, from the same family as civet cats and the strong scent it emits smells just like hot buttered popcorn!
The female binturong pictured here is one of a pair that arrived at the zoo near Bratton Fleming last month, on loan from the government of Cambodia as part of an international breeding programme.
"They are now classed as a vulnerable species. One step away from endangered," explained Derek Gibson, head keeper at Exmoor Zoo.
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"They have a prehensile tail which can support their whole weight as they hang from branches and we have discovered they love pineapples and banana skins."
The scent glands of the binturong - also known as an Asian bearcat - were once used as a base for perfume and this practice together with massive deforestation in its Asian habitat has put the animal under threat.
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Exmoor Zoo is soon to acquire another binturong pair from the Palawan Island in the Philippines - and visitors need only follow their noses to meet them!
