Kinkajou

Kinkajous range from east and south of the Sierra Madre in Mexico, throughout Central America to Bolivia east of the Andes and the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. Their altitudinal range is from sea level to 2,500 m (8,200 ft). They are found in closed-canopy tropical forests, including lowland rainforest, montane forest, dry forest, gallery forest, and secondary forest. Deforestation is thus a potential threat to the species.

Although the kinkajou is classified in the order Carnivora and has sharp teeth, its omnivorous diet consists mainly of fruit, particularly figs. Some 90% of their diet consists of (primarily ripe) fruit. To eat softer fruits, they hold it with their forepaws, then scoop out the succulent pulp with their tongue. They may play an important role in seed dispersal. Leaves, flowers, nectar, and various herbs make up much of the other 10% of their diet. They sometimes eat insects, particularly ants. They may occasionally eat bird eggs and small vertebrates. Their frugivorous habits are convergent with those of diurnal spider monkeys, with the two species filling similar ecological roles where they overlap, but at different times of the day. The kinkajou's slender 5-inch (13 cm) extrudable tongue helps the animal to obtain fruit and to lick nectar from flowers, so it may act as a pollinator. (Nectar is also sometimes obtained by eating entire flowers.) Although captive specimens avidly eat honey (hence the name "honey bear"), honey in the diet of wild kinkajous is not well reported. While they are usually solitary when foraging, they occasionally forage in large groups, and sometimes associate with olingos (which are also nocturnal arboreal frugivores). The larger kinkajous are dominant and will drive olingos away when food is scarce. …

The common name kinkajou derives from French quincajou, based on the Algonquian name for the wolverine. It is similar to the Ojibwe word gwiingwaʼaage, perhaps from a Proto-Algonquian *kwi·nkwaʔa·ke. Its other names in English include honey bear, night ape, and night walker. Throughout its range, several regional names are used; for instance, the Dutch names nachtaap, rolbeer, and rolstaartbeer are used in Suriname. Local names in Portuguese and Spanish include jupará, yapará, huasa, cuchi cuchi, leoncillo, marta, and perro de monte; many of these come from indigenous languages such as Old Tupi.