Move Over, Lion King!

The scene: a fancy office at the William Morris Talent Agency in Hollywood, California.

Mr. Lazar, Highly Successful and Powerful Agent:  Thanks for coming in today, Ms. Ah….

Binturong: Bindy.  Call me Bindy.  Actually, I just go by the one name.  Like all the great ones.  My formal scientific name is arctcitis binturong, but I only use that on contracts. 

Mr. Lazar: Sure, Bindy, well, I know you’ve come a long way, …

Binturong:  All the way from Southeast Asia, actually.

Mr. Lazar: …but I don’t have a lot of time today, you say you have a screenplay?

Binturong:  I sure do. (Drops sheath of stapled papers onto desk.)  It’s called, “The Poop that Saved the Rain Forest”.

Mr. Lazar: Wow, the Poop that Saved the Rain Forest, is that a comedy?  I don’t rep comedies…

Binturong:  Comedy?  No, my goodness, this is a gripping drama, adventure, action, heroism, everything you would want in a movie.

Mr. Lazar: You’d better explain.

Binturong: Sure.  In my rain forest, light is at a premium, because of dense plant growth.  A tree called the Strangler Fig is very successful there, because I drop its seeds in crevasses on existing trees when I poop, and its roots grow downward, “strangling” the existing tree.  I can travel from tree to tree, without ever going down to the ground. 

I’m the only animal with stomach enzymes that can soften the seed coat of the Strangler Fig.  Without me, Strangler Fig seeds wouldn’t get spread around, and the rain forest wouldn’t have its high canopy of trees.  They call me a keystone species.  

I should probably tell you that us female binturongs are actually the dominant sex, being about 20% bigger than males.  We are also one of the few mammals that can experience “delayed implantation”, meaning that we can choose the time of the birth of our young, if conditions are right.  Neat, huh?

Mr. Lazar:  Fascinating, I could never even make that kind of stuff up, but, is there really a movie plot in there somewhere?

Binturong:  Sure is.  See, a lot of circumstances have been combining to decrease my population.  Deforestation to increase farm land kills off my habitat.  In many areas where I live the population is poor, so I get hunted for meat and to supply a demand for materials used in Asian medicines.  I’m even in demand as pets now in the U.S. – you can go online right now and buy one of me for $6,000 to $10,000!  For that kind of money, I guess you can understand why there is a high price on my life.

Mr. Lazar:  People want wild binturongs as pets?  Who?

Binturong: Probably the same people who want cute tiger cubs as pets, only to see them grow up quickly into 500 pound carnivores.  But I digress.

So, the less of me there are, the less the Strangler Fig seeds are spread, and the decline of the rain forest continues in a vicious cycle.  It’s estimated that the binturong population has declined by at least 30% in the last 30 years.

Mr. Lazar: Sad.  I’m starting to see the plot, but not the happy ending.  Every movie like this has to have a happy ending.

Binturong:  That’s where you come in.  There’s no easy solutions.  But I heard you also have some great writers as clients.  Can you help me out?

What I thought was, the movie itself could be the happy ending!  See, I’m cute, even cuter than those lame Ewoks.  People will love me, there will be stuffed animals, product placements in fast food restaurants, coloring books, all kinds of money makers.  And, of course, an outpouring of support for me and my kind and the rain forest as well.  Can you make it happen?

Mr. Lazar:  Well, I know some people at Disney.  “The Poop that Saved the Rain Forest”, I guess it’s as good a working title as any.  Memorable, for sure.  Let me make some calls.  Hmmm, I wonder if we could get Jon Lovitz, he is due for a comeback. 

Binturong: I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?

Mr. Lazar: Gee, sorry, I never offered you any refreshment.  Care for some coffee, tea, a muffin?

Binturong: I can’t take the caffeine, but do you happen to have any Strangler Figs?  I was wondering if California wanted to start a new forest….


To find out more about the binturong and threats to the rainforest, click here.


To see a video clip of a binturong up close and personal, click here.