Binturongs are sexually dimorphic (with two distinct gender forms): females are up to 20% larger than males. They have long, coarse, shiny black fur often tipped with gray, yellow, or cream, while their whiskers and the edges of their ears are white with long black tufts of hair. Their particularly muscular tail is usually longer than their body and is prehensile (has the ability to grasp) at the tip. Their cheek teeth are flat to crush the fruit they eat.

Binturongs are uncommon or rare throughout much of their range and are faced with the threat of habitat loss or impairment due to increasing amounts of Southeast Asian rain forests being cleared to farm palm oil. Hunting for food, the pet trade, and medicinal markets threatens binturongs as well.

• Listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources).
• They are listed on Appendix III of CITES.
• Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals