Hold the Date - Sept. 7, 2013

Yes! We're doing it again! UC at the Zoo will be held 4:30-9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013.

Details coming soon, but for now, be sure to HOLD the DATE!

Have suggestions for this year's event? Send them to Zoo@uc.edu. We'd love to hear from you.

When you visit the zoo, don't forget to say "hello" to Lucy the bearcat, member of the UC cheerleading squad.

Find out what's happening this month at the Cincinnati Zoo by visiting the events calendar.
 
 
 

Bearcat, Arctictis binturong -"Lucy"

Birthday: January 17, 2008

Hometown: Spring, Texas

Length: 4 ft

Weight: 20 lbs

Favorite Food: Grapes, bananas and musketeers

Also known as the binturong, the bearcat is agile like a cat in the canopy and less adept on ground, walking flat-footed like a bear. However, it is neither a bear nor a cat, but belongs to the civet and mongoose family. Spending most of its time in the trees, it slowly and skillfully walks along branches at night while foraging for fruit and small animals. Curling its prehensile tail around a tree limb, the bearcat pulls fruiting branches to its mouth with its forepaws. As it climbs down a tree headfirst, the bearcat turns its ankles so it can still grip the trunk with its claws.

The bearcat has a very distinctive odor; it smells like hot popcorn!

Although it is classified as a carnivore, the bearcat primarily eats fruit.

A bearcat eats a fig, travels a ways, then passes the seeds out the other end, helping fig trees grow in new places.