Best UK Binturong enclosure

Best UK Binturong enclosure?

  • Total voters
    54
  • Poll closed .
Brum said:
Birmingham also mix theirs with short-clawed otters as well, just for the record. And WILD mix their binturong with palm civets and otters. Mine was a toss-up between BWCP and WILD but went with WILD in the end, possibly because it's the most recent one I've seen but it was really rather nice, plenty of climbing opportunities, and the binturong is taken out for daily presentations and seems very relaxed around the public. :)
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They now have a pair, a younger female was introduced in the last year or so :)
 
Andrew Swales said:
I would say that the Binturongs (currently a single) housed with our SC Otters have been geriatric generic animals. Our breeding animals (both on-show and off-show) previously generics, and now our two breeding pairs of Javans, are held in conventional indoor/outdoor 'aviaries' as shown in the other pictures. We would never dream of risking them with otters, bears or any other spp.
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Why do you say this? Would otters pose a risk to an infant binturong - or vice versa? Bears I can certainly understand being a concern, but otters surprise me more, especially as it seems to be a fairly common mix.

Personally I'm not massively keen on mixed species exhibits as a whole, barring things like large paddocks for hoofstock - I'm interested to hear the relative pros and cons of this particular mix.
 
Sand Cat said:
Bears I can certainly understand being a concern, but otters surprise me more, especially as it seems to be a fairly common mix.
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ASCO have been known to kill surprisingly large prey both in the wild and in inadvisable species mixes within captive collections - off the top of my head, I know that there has been at least one case of a group of ASCO killing Javan Langur in captivity.
 
I think mixed species exhibits are excellent if planned correcting large enclosures. If the species mixed have escape routes & are diurnal/nocturnal then it makes a lot of sense. I can think of heaps of mixed species exhibits that work well for both the inhabitants & the zoo guests.
 
Brum said:
Fairly recent development though, they were still waiting for her on the 26th of February this year. :)
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I couldn't remember when exactly :p Lockdown has thrown me out of whack ;)
 
Sand Cat said:
Why do you say this? Would otters pose a risk to an infant binturong - or vice versa? Bears I can certainly understand being a concern, but otters surprise me more, especially as it seems to be a fairly common mix.

Personally I'm not massively keen on mixed species exhibits as a whole, barring things like large paddocks for hoofstock - I'm interested to hear the relative pros and cons of this particular mix.
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Large paddocks with hoof-stock and often wing-clipped birds have as many management problems as other mixes. 'Problems' are usually hushed up, and rarely published. Otters can be highly aggressive, even savage and are very strong. A bite from a SC would be very serious even for a human. They are quite capable of attacking an adult Binturong and could certainly kill young ones, and would probably try to. Our mix seems to be OK, with two old non-breeding male Otters which are very shy and seldom seem by the public, with a pair (now a single) old Binturong which have branches and trees the Otters cannot access and a large off show house which is Otter-proof. We would certainly not mix a (potentially bold and breeding) group of Otters with anything as small as a Binturong.
Binturong have been almost 'dismissed' as the next Coati. They have been in the UK for many years, with little interest until the current bandwagon started to roll. Historically only Linton and Southport bred them with any regularity, with just a few other zoos having the odd success. TLD pointed out above how many (few!) are breeding even now.
 
Andrew Swales said:
Our mix seems to be OK, with two old non-breeding male Otters which are very shy and seldom seem by the public
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I am fairly sure that your otters are quite literally the only mammal species you have had on public display since I started visiting Hamerton which I have never spotted, with the exception of one species which went on-show and off-show between visits :P which says a fair bit about how shy and reclusive they are!

Andrew Swales said:
They have been in the UK for many years, with little interest until the current bandwagon started to roll........TLD pointed out above how many (few!) are breeding even now.
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Interestingly, the species does seem to breed pretty regularly in private hands - this being the main source of the influx of Palawan Binturong into UK and European collections - so the reason for the low rate of breeding quite possibly is, as you note, down to a lack of any real interest in doing so rather than a lack in husbandry knowledge.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I am fairly sure that your otters are quite literally the only mammal species you have had on public display since I started visiting Hamerton which I have never spotted, with the exception of one species which went on-show and off-show between visits :p which says a fair bit about how shy and reclusive they are!



Interestingly, the species does seem to breed pretty regularly in private hands - this being the main source of the influx of Palawan Binturong into UK and European collections - so the reason for the low rate of breeding quite possibly is, as you note, down to a lack of any real interest in doing so rather than a lack in husbandry knowledge.
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Our Otters have been very bold and visible during lock-down, but have reverted to being active only before and after the public arrive/leave now we are busy again. During opening hours they do seem to be the most reclusive of their species ever recorded... This maybe is why the mix has worked, and we have not made any attempt to form a group (of Otters) whilst the old Binturong is still with us. I'm not sure what we will use the enclosure for, once these three old animals pass on.

I would suggest that most privately bred (and successfully breeding) Binturongs are held in conventional enclosures and not mixed with anything, certainly not Otters or Bears. I think it more likely that the Palawans and now Javans are closer to wild stock and still more viable, whereas all we had before were the remnants of the old stock most of which came from Southport, which so far as I know originated from a couple of animals imported by Ravensden. This line must have become quite in-bred. We bred generics a number of times, but from animals imported from Lille and Artis; likely not from the Southport line and potentially again closer to wild stock.
Yes indeed, the reason for the current interest is likely to be availability; and yes there must be some Coati enclosures which need filling, but surely most of these seem to be full of Red Pandas now, so maybe these are actually the 'new Coati?...
 
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Andrew Swales said:
Large paddocks with hoof-stock and often wing-clipped birds have as many management problems as other mixes. 'Problems' are usually hushed up, and rarely published. Otters can be highly aggressive, even savage and are very strong. A bite from a SC would be very serious even for a human. They are quite capable of attacking an adult Binturong and could certainly kill young ones, and would probably try to. Our mix seems to be OK, with two old non-breeding male Otters which are very shy and seldom seem by the public, with a pair (now a single) old Binturong which have branches and trees the Otters cannot access and a large off show house which is Otter-proof. We would certainly not mix a (potentially bold and breeding) group of Otters with anything as small as a Binturong.
Binturong have been almost 'dismissed' as the next Coati. They have been in the UK for many years, with little interest until the current bandwagon started to roll. Historically only Linton and Southport bred them with any regularity, with just a few other zoos having the odd success. TLD pointed out above how many (few!) are breeding even now.
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Thanks for such an informative answer. I knew otters had a very nasty bite, but wasn't aware they were THAT aggressive - just goes to show that a cute little face can hide a multitude of sins!

As usual, I'll be most interested to see what you do with that enclosure in the future - but of course hopefully you won't need to fill it for a while yet!

@TeaLovingDave - is this a good time to mention that I last visited Hamerton in 2018 and actually saw the otters, albeit at a distance? Funnily enough it was the binturongs in that enclosure that were a no-show! Isn't it bizarre though how in a place so full of rarities, that its the Short-Clawed Otters that hardly anyone sees!
 
I'm in the same boat as @Sand Cat. I've never seen the Binturong in that exhibit, but have had a quick glimpse of an Otter (some back legs and a tail) :D
 
Poll closed. Congratulations to Chester on winning the vote for Best UK Binturong enclosure. Two smaller collections Wild ZP and Birmingham WCP also did extremely well and came joint second with a pair of very attractive exhibits.

This is the sixth enclosure in the islands complex that has been involved in a poll. So far three have won (Orang-utan, Sun Bear, Binturong), there has been one second place (Malayan Tapir) and two which only got a few votes (Tiger and Gibbon).

@The Prairie dog who are you voting for?

Chester 35.2%
Birmingham WCP: 18.5%
Wild ZP: 18.5%
Colchester: 11.1%
Dudley: 5.6%
Hamerton: 3.7%
Edinburgh: 3.7%
Linton: 1.9%
 
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