Michigan Zoo Welcomes Binturong Babies

(CBS DETROIT/CNN) - The Potter Park Zoo in Lansing welcomed three baby bintlets on the Fourth of July, which is the first binturong birth at the zoo in over two decades.

Officials with the zoo say binturong Thistle gave birth to three babies, and two of the babies are healthy, but the third one was sick and unfortunately passed away within a week.

Bintlets remain hidden in the mother's thick fur for the first few days.

Once they are around six to eight weeks old, bintlets are the size of a domestic cat, will have grown a coat of coarse hair, and will begin to eat solid food.

"Animal care staff has done a great job training the mother binturong Thistle to allow awake ultrasounds. Thistle voluntarily stands in position to let me ultrasound her abdomen and she can choose to walk away at any time. We've been able to collect valuable information on fetal parameter development in Binturongs and we hope to share this information to the zoo wide community in a scientific publication in the future," said Director of Animal Health Dr. Ronan Eustace.

Binturongs live in the canopies of tropical rain forests in southeast Asia.

Another interesting fact zoo officials shared is that the female binturong is one of the only mammals that can experience delayed implantation, which means the female can give birth at a time with optimal environmental conditions.

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