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Photo by Mattias Klum
Courtesy of National Geographic
Kinkajous are cousins to the raccoon. They have very long tongues and like to drink nectar from Balsa tree* blossoms (in the photo). Also called Honey Bear, kinkajous love sweet things, especially bananas. If you leave the door open to your house, one might amble into the kitchen at night and take some of YOUR bananas! Maybe one will even climb up and hang from a rafter by its strong, long prehensile tail (it holds onto things) to eat them.
Usually, however, kinkajous are quite shy and not easy to find in the forest (they are nocturnal).
These wonderful animals are a keystone species, which means that without them, a large part of the ecosystem would vanish.
*Balsa trees are also called Kapok trees. They are enormous, beautiful, fast growing and pollinated by bats! The wood is super light and is sometimes used for small models (airplanes, etc).
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Kinkajou with Balsa blossom
some more kinkajou information
by Sue Memhard with Jim Crisp
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