Binturongs are arboreal carnivores from Southeast Asia with specific welfare needs including elevated structures, varied diet, and social management that require specialist care.
Binturong welfare in zoos requires providing the arboreal environment and dietary variety that this unusual carnivore needs. Binturongs in bare, floor-level enclosures cannot express their natural climbing and arboreal resting behaviour; elevated structures are not optional enrichment but fundamental welfare infrastructure. Their diet in the wild includes fruit, eggs, small vertebrates, and invertebrates; captive diets should reflect this variety rather than relying on a single commercial diet. The slow, deliberate movement of binturongs may be misread as contentment in bare environments when it actually reflects an absence of stimulation that engaged animals would overcome through exploration.