Truth Be Told--A Bearkat is NOT a Kinkajou OR a Binturong

This is a Bearkat--It is NOT a Kinkajou or a Binturong

It is almost Homecoming 2004, in the 125th year of Sam Houston State University's existence, and a good time perhaps to clear up at least a half century of confusion about the university mascot.

As loyal Bearkats, we are often asked just what a Bearkat is. Sometimes we give the wrong answer, according to George W. Lantrip, an alum who now works as a research staff member for the Brooks City-Base, formerly Brooks Air Force Base, in San Antonio.

Before we get to Lantrip's comment, one thing must be understood. The best evidence is that the Sam Houston mascot, the "Bearkat," was never intended to be patterned after a real animal.

According to the university's Web site:

"Sam Houston State University's athletic teams have been nicknamed 'The Bearkats' since 1923 when the University's name was changed by the Texas State Legislature from Sam Houston Normal Institute to Sam Houston State Teachers College. (Prior to 1923, the varsity sports teams were nicknamed 'The Normals').

Binturong--This is NOT a Bearkat

"Early references to 'Bearkats' spelled the name either 'Bearcats,' 'Bear Cats', or 'Bearkats.'"

Later in that entry, it comes to the heart of the matter:

"The late Reed Lindsey, who was a student/athlete in the 1920s and later retired as University registrar, once said that 'it was a good fighting name of the time.' Since the animal in the saying was thought more mythical than real, the spelling settled upon was 'Bearkat.'"

Kinkajou--NOT a Bearkat

But Lantrip saw another line that says "a bearcat actually is a kinkajou," and begged to differ.

"I was taught that the bearcat is the present day, Binturong, an Asiatic civet, genus arcitilis," Lantrip e-mailed recently. "If you look in an Oxford Dictionary, one will find such. I never heard the Kinkajou ( Honey Bear) defined this way."

After looking through several Websites containing information on both binturongs and kinkajous, Today@Sam agrees.

Here are excerpts:

"The word binturong is of Malaysian origin, but the animal is commonly called "bearcat" in English," according to Galen Berry of Houston, who first saw one of these creatures in a Houston zoo and has since owned several.

In the Britannica Online, right beside the photo of a kinkajou, it says, "also called honey bear."

George W. Lantrip ('63, '93)--Animal Expert

The true nature of our mythical Bearkat, a combination of the fiercest fighting qualities of both the bear and cat families (think of a grizzly/tiger cross), may have been muddled somewhat in the 1950s when Sam Houston State Teachers College adopted, for a short time, a live kinkajou.

The animal apparently did not do well in captivity, knowing perhaps that it was posing as something it was not, but it hung around long enough to cause at least a half century of confusion.

There have been other, equally unsuccessful efforts. Bette Craig, now an employee in the Gresham Library, was a student in the early 1970s and remembers feeding and cleaning a kinkajou mascot cage every day.

Lantrip, the alum who brought this to the attention of Today@Sam, has long ties to the university, and expertise in the field of animals.

" I entered Sam Houston State in the summer of 1960, receiving my BS in agriculture in 1965 and MS in Agriculture in 1993," he wrote. "My mother graduated from SH Normal Institute when Dr. Pritchett and Dr. Estill were educators there."

After leaving Sam Houston State, Lantrip worked in the laboratory science field 25 years and as a registered laboratory animal technologist through the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science.

Unlike his alma mater's mascot, Lantrip is no myth. He won't be able to make it for Homecoming 2004, but like true Bearkats everywhere, says he will be here in spirit.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Oct. 6, 2004
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu