Photo/Illutration

Editor's note: This is part of a series of videos offering an up-close perspective on the animal kingdom. A special 360-degree video camera system was set up in zoos and other facilities to show how the animals view their world as they interact.

Also visit our special 360-DEGREE LIVES page (http://t.asahi.com/360lives), where you can watch all the previous videos.

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What do you call an animal that looks like a cross between a bear, a raccoon and a cat?

A bearcat (aka binturong).

The black-furred creatures, whose name means "bear-like cat" in Malay, live in forests in Southeast Asia.

They also smell like popcorn.

“Would you like to smell it?” said zoo attendant Mizuki Baba, holding out a piece of gauze after she placed it under a binturong’s tail.

It really smelled like freshly popped kernels with a hint of animal odor.

Three bearcat cubs were born in spring 2018 at the Kobe Animal Kingdom in Kobe.

According to Baba, the binturong is a viverrid and has musk glands around the anus. It marks its territory by rubbing the smell on trees. Some reports say that a compound produced relating to the smell is similar to a scent constituent of savory popcorn.

A wooden framework was installed in the exhibition area to make the enclosure more like the creature's natural habitat, which is arboreal. The mammal is originally nocturnal, but it is often seen climbing trees skillfully using its tail and hanging upside down during the day.