Protecting Binturongs | World of Animals

[Music] hi everyone I'm Amanda from Haroo and I help take care of our binon ritan I'm here today to tell you all about this amazing animal how important they are for their natural habitat and what we can do to protect this vulnerable species so there's still a lot to learn about binong but what we do know is they are a small carnivore and part of the viid family which they also share with their closest relative of civits bongs are found in Southeast Asia and can be found high up in the dense forest environment they also have a prehensile tail which they can use as an extra limb to help the maneuver through the forest here we are feeding ritan some figs which he absolutely loves and they actually make up about 80% of a bong's diet in the wild binrong are known as Gardeners of the forest and this is because they don't digest the Fig seeds when they eat them when they're moving through the forest they actually disperse the seeds through their feal matter unfortunately binrong are under threat in the wild deforestation is a huge problem areas of forest are being cut down to clear space for agricultural land and the wood from the trees is also used as building materials cutting down trees forces binrong to the ground which makes them more vulnerable to predators and human traps human traps are set to capture bongs for the pet and meat trade which unfortunately could lead to the species becoming endangered so we must act now to protect this amazing animal a sustainable way of living is a great way to help binong in the wild sourcing local food sourcing local materials and small changes to our lifestyle can have a really big impact small changes to our lifestyle could include using reusable water bottles and avoiding single use plastic ritan has a really important role here at the zoo he educates thousands of visitors a year about bintong and their plight in the wild and hopefully one day he will also contribute to their breeding program which is one way zoos are trying to help this vulnerable species on behalf of myself and ritan thank you for helping this fascinating species and hopefully we can all do our part to protect and preserve our natural world