The Palawan bearcat (''Arctictis binturong whitei''), also commonly known as the Palawan binturong, is a subspecies of the

binturong The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverridae, viverrid native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on th ...

, a mammal in the family

Viverridae Viverridae is a family (biology), family of small to medium-sized feliform mammals, comprising 14 genera with 33 species. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, in southern Europe, ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the island of

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Description

The Palawan binturong can grow to as much as . Distinguishing characteristics are the ears that are lined with white fur, and long, white whiskers that can be as long as the length of its head. Generally docile when handled, the bearcat nevertheless has sharp claws and teeth that can easily rip through flesh. It can suspend itself by curling its strong prehensile tail around branches. Its vertically oriented pupil indicates that it is a nocturnal animal. It has coarse, thick black-brown fur.

Behaviour and ecology

The Palawan binturong inhabits

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

habitat. It is an

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

, feeding on fruit, small animals, and carrion.Palawan Binturong.
Belfast Zoo. It is solitary and mostly active at night; it is arboreal, living in forests, including rainforests, as well as agricultural areas and close to human settlements. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of fruits, insects, small mammals and birds. It communicates using a range of vocalizations like as grunts, hisses, and growls; females give birth to a single young after a 90-day

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period.The young are born with their eyes closed and are reliant on their mother for the first few months of their lives.

Conservation

Due to its limited distribution, the Palawan binturong may be of conservation concern, and because of its reliance on the forest, it is threatened by deforestation, which is a severe problem in Palawan: Between 2000 and 2017, 11% of the world's forest was lost. Furthermore, Palawan is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, with Palawan binturongs being seized on a regular basis (The IUCN lists the Palawan binturong as Vulnerable; the main threats it faces are destruction and degradation of primary rainforest, hunting for meat, use in traditional medicines and as pets, and accidental or intentional snaring, which is exacerbated by negligible penalties for hunting and trade in some countries. They, like ordinary palm civets (Paradoxurus spp.), are live-trapped and kept in farms in Indonesia for the manufacture of civet coffee, with poor living conditions leading in significant mortality. This subspecies is harvested for the pet trade. In the south of its range it is also taken for human consumption.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2164552 Mammals of the Philippines Endemic fauna of the Philippines Fauna of Palawan Viverrids