Meet Bing! Real-life Bearcat joins Binghamton’s mascot lineup

Go Bearcats – literally! Binghamton University has added a wild new member to its mascot team: a living, breathing bearcat named Bing!

The young bearcat joins Binghamton’s mascot lineup – and his big brother Baxter – thanks to a new partnership with Animal Adventure Park in nearby Harpursville, N.Y. President Harvey Stenger and Animal Adventure Park owner Jordan Patch introduced Bing at a press conference at the park on Wednesday.

“I remember at one graduation ceremony when Stephanie Courtney, aka ‘Flo’ from Progressive, made during her comments: A Bearcat. Half bear, half cat. And when you think about the characteristics of a bearcat, that’s what they are. They’re fast, they’re tough and they’re adaptive, and we think that that’s what the Bearcat represents to Binghamton University,” said Stenger as Bing playfully walked along his shoulders.

As part of the new agreement with Animal Adventure Park, Bing will attend multiple Binghamton University events throughout the academic year with members of the animal care team, who are professional zoologists. His furry face will also appear in social media posts for both the University and Animal Adventure Park.

“I’m so excited to have Bing coming to campus, perhaps for a visit or two,” said Stenger. “And also, in today’s kind of crazy NCAA world – where name, image and likeness are going off the charts for paying athletes to play basketball and football – we thought that this would be kind of cool that we could have an NIL deal with Bing, our newest member of the Bearcat family of Binghamton.”

The agreement came into effect thanks to the efforts of Nora Monasheri ’23 and Mia Raskin ’23, interns on the President’s Road Map team who wanted to bring a sense of reality to Binghamton’s mascot. They met with Patch, who liked the idea and found Bing.

“Anytime in our community when new relationships are formed, that opens a new door to help educate and engage. And what a bigger and better platform than to be the Binghamton University student body, staff, alumni and their supporters?” said Patch. “With Binghamton University welcoming close to 14,000 undergraduates to campus this year, it’s an awesome platform for us to be able to reach out, engage with them, educate them and introduce them to their newest mascot.”

Bing is a binturong, aka a bearcat, a mammal native to South and Southeast Asia. Binturongs are omnivores that spend most of their time hanging out on treetops. One of their most noteworthy characteristics – they give off the scent of buttered popcorn! Bing is five months old and just a little guy now, but he’ll grow considerably.

“Adult weight for these guys is anywhere between 30 to 50 pounds. Females are dominant in the species, so they tend to be a little bit bigger. So he’ll probably be around 40 pounds,” said Erin Sarandis, curator at Animal Adventure Park. “Right now he’s around 20, so he’ll double in size. From the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail, they can grow to be about six feet in length as well.”

Animal Adventure Park is an accredited facility and Bing’s permanent home. His safety and comfort will be a priority as he begins his journey as Binghamton’s new mascot. Patch noted that “ambassador animals” have free choice and do things on their terms – Bing will not be put in stressful situations.

“Our team members, who are quite dedicated to working with Bing and have been hand-rearing him – they’re going to continue that bond in that relationship,” said Patch. “And it makes our ambassador animals, what we call ‘human tolerant’. It makes life for them a lot less stressful, and it prepares them for that life out in the limelight, if you will, being an ambassador for the species. As he ages, he’ll tell us his comfort level, and that’ll be something we respect. Whether it’s our team simply handling him or giving the great opportunity for the Binghamton University community to possibly get hands-on. Time will tell with that.”