- [Mark] Okay, let's go find a bearcat.
Oh my gosh, look at those claws,
oh, whoa whoa, that's not rain, it's pee.
and it smells like just like popcorn.
Oh my gosh.
(adventurous safari music)
(dramatic music)
- [Mark] Over the years, Brave Wilderness has shown you
some pretty strange oddities of the animal world.
We've seen tiny anteaters, worms that bite,
worms that aren't even worms at all.
How 'bout those giant salamanders?
And we've even shown you frogs with transparent skin.
But the one I'm going to show you today
is both bizarre in appearance and has one of the
weirdest traits I've ever heard of
or should I say smelled of.
Get your popcorn ready, this one is unbelievable.
What's going on everybody I'm Mark Vins and
welcome back for another adventure here
at the Wildlife HQ in sunshine coast Australia and
we're here again today with Sue and, Sue, I see you have
some bananas that we're going
to use to feature our next guest.
- Yes, this is his favorite food, but most people
have probably never heard of his species before.
- [Mark] Okay and what is his species?
- [Sue] So they're known as a Binturong or their
common name is a bearcat, but they're
not a bear and they're not a cat.
- Okay cool, I like the name bearcat, that's already
peaked my interest right there.
I'm gonna use a go pro, to try to see
how close I can actually
get, but, you feel good about this?
- Yes, let's go.
- Okay let's go find a bearcat.
To encounter a bearcat
in the wild is extremely rare.
As they become vulnerable and even endangered
in much of their natural range in Southeast Asia.
This is unfortunately do to
poaching and habitat loss.
Looks like Sari has caught wind of the bananas.
- [Sue] Yeah, it's looking pretty good here,
he's having a big stretch, come on.
- [Mark] Are bearcats traditionally a nocturnal species?
- [Sue] Mostly nocturnal, so not strictly but mostly.
- [Mark] Okay, this bearcat reminds me of a wolverine
and the wolverine we worked with in Alaska
was not nearly this calm, so I'm hoping
Sari stays in this demeanor
for the entirety of this episode.
- [Sue] He's actually a gentle giant.
- Okay good, they definitely look
a little bit intimidating, I will say, look at those claws.
- [Sue] Check out that big tail, his tail is actually
fully prehensile and he suspend his whole weight
by the very tip of his tail.
- [Mark] Wow look at this.
Hey Sari, hi, look at that,
yum, yum oh yeah, how's that?
That's just how, ooh, that's how I eat a banana
you are slobbering all over me, but thank you
for coming down to hang out.
You are very interesting, oh look at that claw.
Look at that claw, he wants another bite.
Oh my goodness, so I'm able to get a
good look at these claws and they are razor sharp,
no doubt for climbing trees,
but the pads are almost like a bear.
I can definitely see why they get the name bearcat.
Not only are they, absolutely covered in this
fluffy main, but also their claws and
pads are just like a black bear.
Look at you, hi, how's it goin'?
And you can see the cat comes from the whiskers.
So to clear things up, let's
talk about this name bearcat.
While possessing bear-like feet and cat-like
whiskers, a binturong is not
related to a bear or a cat.
In fact, it's family the Viverridae, contains
many other unusual small to medium
size mammals like the civet.
But this omnivorous bearcat is the largest and
although it looks an awful lot like a wolverine
or a badger it's not closely related to them either.
Now how old will a bearcat live?
- [Sue] So, up to about 25 years.
- [Mark] Okay and how old is Sari,
if you don't mind me asking, is that rude?
- [Sue] I'm sure he doesn't mind, he's about 11 years old.
- [Mark] Okay, so the coloration, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Easy, we got a little bit more left.
Oh my gosh.
So the coloration in the fur,
that has nothing to do with age?
- [Sue] It doesn't, no, and they can vary in color
depending on what region they're found.
So they can be really gray right through to the black.
- [Mark] Very cool.
Now while the hair does keep the bearcat warm
it also doubles as a natural raincoat,
keeping the (mumbles) species dry up in the treetops.
All right we got one last little piece Sari,
this is gonna be it, this is the outro, you ready?
Well I hope you guys enjoyed hanging
out with this bearcat as much as I did today.
Thank you, Sue, so much.
If you guys are ever in the sunshine coast of Australia
say hello to our friend the bearcat, Sari,
you won't be disappointed.
I'm Mark Vins, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
All right see you, Sari.
(happy light music)
- [Producer] Hey just quiet real quick, hey guys.
- [Mark] We were about to leave and then I saw this.
That's not rain, it's pee and it smells just like popcorn.
Oh my gosh!
It's like all around us.
I cannot believe that.
If you told me, "Hey somebody got a
fresh bag of popcorn ready,"
I would believe you, right now, holy smokes.
All right, banana drop, I'm out.
(old-timey music)
- [Mark] Never in my wildest dreams, did I
every imagine feeding a bear cat.
And who knew they liked bananas so much!
But, boy, the shocker of the century had to be
this animal's unique and oddly familiar scent.
While bearcats always smell subtlety like corn chips
because of their musk, their pee smells
just like buttered popcorn.
Not kind of like it or somewhat like it.
We're talking exactly like it.
And this is due to the chemical compound
in their urine known as 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline.
Which is the same chemical compound created in the
popcorn popping process when sugars and amino acids
interact at high temperatures.
Honestly, before today if you were to tell me
any animals' urine would smell exactly like my
favorite snack food, my answer would be no way!
But it does, let's just say going to the movies
will never be the same.
Huge thanks goes out to Australia's Wildlife HQ.
We love the HQ because they are small family owned
wildlife park run my passionate conservationists,
who aid in important efforts including,
the Queensland Koala Crusaders.
A group in particular need at the moment
as a result from the fires.
Their support for conserving wildlife means that by
paying a visit you can both have rare opportunity
to get up close with some incredible creatures and
conserve them all at the same time.
And let me know if you do stop by,
by tagging me on Instagram @realmarkvins.
I do respond to comments and would love
to hear from you to hear from you directly.
Hey, did you hear you can officially become a member
of the Brave crew?
By joining our team you can gain access to exclusive
videos, behind the scenes photos, and members only
discounts for our new Brave Wilderness official gear.
Click the join button on the channel home page
and open up a new world of adventure by
becoming Brave crew official.
There's also a link in the description below.
What are you waiting for?
Join the crew today.
(lion roaring)
(birds cawing)