Zoo Atlanta welcomes Baloo, a 1-year-old male binturong, to the animal population. A recent arrival from the Brookfield Zoo, Baloo is now exploring his new home in the Zoo’s Complex Carnivores zone.
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Also known as “bearcats” for their physical resemblances to both, binturongs are neither bears nor cats but are instead most closely related to civets. Binturongs are also distinctive in that they are one of only two members of the order Carnivora to feature a prehensile tail.
Native to southern and southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and parts of China, binturongs are classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their most pressing threat is habitat loss for conversion to agriculture, especially for palm oil plantations. Other threats include the pet trade and hunting for their meat, which is considered a delicacy in some parts of their range.
Processed from the fruit of the African oil palm tree and harvested worldwide in warm and temperate climates, palm oil is one of the planet’s most commonplace commodities. It is found in over half of all household products, from foods and beverages to toothpaste, shampoo and pet food. Some of the planet’s most concentrated regions of palm oil production are in southeast Asia, and these unsustainable activities are resulting in dramatic population declines for numerous animal species.
Zoo Atlanta is one of only a small number of zoos to pursue and attain membership in the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil™ (RSPO). The Zoo and many other accredited zoos are vocal advocates for encouraging the use of only sustainable palm oil, supporting only companies who use sustainably produced oil and celebrating those who make the switch and raising public awareness of the necessity for informed shopping.
Zoo Atlanta is located at 800 Cherokee Avenue SE, Atlanta GA 30315. 404-624-9453 (WILD). Zoo Atlanta is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. You can follow along with the fun by using Hashtag: #OnlyZooAtl.
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