Soft Toy Kinkajou by Hansa (24cm) 6227

Another name for a Kinkajou is a Honey Bear because of their claws and their rounded ears. 

Kinkajous are the only species of the genus Potos

Kinkajous are arboreal and possess many arboreal adaptations, such as a long prehensile tail, nimble clawed fingers, and fully reversible hind feet.

The peak activity of a Kinkajou is usually between 7 p.m and midnight, and again an hour before dawn. During the day, kinkajous sleep in tree hollows or shaded tangles of leaves, avoiding direct sunlight. 

Studies have shown that 90% of a Kinkajous diet consists of fruit. The other ten percent is made up of leaves, flowers, and various other herbs. On rare occasions they eat eggs, hatchlings, insects, and small vertebrates. 

Interestingly, kinkajous are important pollinators. As they travel from flower to flower, drinking nectar, the flower’s pollen sticks to the kinkajous face and smears off on the next flower.

Kinkajous live in small social groups that usually consist of two males, one female, and related offspring. Members of the same group sleep together during the day in a shared nest or den and emerge at dusk to groom and socialize. They wander off to feed alone for most of the night but come back together in the morning to sleep.

Kinkajous are highly vocal, emitting screams, barks, and a variety of softer sounds, including some described as “sneezes.”

Kinkajous breed throughout the year, giving birth to one or occasionally two small babies after a gestation period of 112 to 118 days. A mother kinkajou takes full responsibility for caring for her young(s). After one or two weeks, the baby’s eyes open. It begins to eat solid food at eight weeks. By this time, the youngster can hang by its tail. It is able to climb with confidence when it is about three months old.

Although kinkajous may look like monkeys or ferrets, they are not related to those animals.They are related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle