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Save the Binturong From Habitat Loss!

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Sponsor: The Rainforest Site

Deforestation and agriculture are threatening the rare and elusive binturong. Help save them!


The binturong (or bearcat) typically lives in areas between northeast India and the Philippines1, but its habitat is being greatly threatened by habitat loss due to logging and agribusiness, especially the oil palm industry. It is also hunted for bushmeat, traditional medicine and the pet trade. A local coffee, made from beans that pass through a binturong's digestive system, is also valued2.

Because this extremely rare mammal has been referred to as a "low-profile" species, it has, in turn, long suffered as one without protection3.

Conservation groups want to help this incredible animal, but without proper knowledge, it is becoming increasingly difficult4.

Unless we are able to learn enough about these animals and their habitats, they'll soon be in extreme danger because of what humans have done to their homes.

Sign the petition below asking the Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to further invest in trap cameras to help give conservationists the information they need to help the binturong!

More on this issue:

  1. San Diego Zoo (2021), "Binturong."
  2. Carly Nairn, Mongabay (13 October 2013), "What is a binturong?"
  3. Jason Bittel, NRDC (14 January 2016), "Save the Binturong! Wait―What's a Binturong?"
  4. AB Conservation (2022), "Bearcat Study Program."
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The Petition:

Dear Director General,

Forests across the globe are being torn apart by numerous industries, and the habitats of animals are suffering horribly because of it.

One such animal is the binturong.

The binturong is unique when it comes to conservation, however. Due to its elusiveness, conservationists like you and your organization are unsure of how to help the binturong through their loss of habitat. More than that, the binturong has been called a "low-profile" species, which to this point has meant that the binturong is low priority.

Luckily, it won't take much to learn about the binturong. With more funding for trap cameras, your team will be able to safely study this incredible mammal, and to develop conservation strategies.

Director General, I urge you: please allow this spending. The survival of the binturong depends upon it.

Sincerely,

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Signatures: