In some countries, kinkajous are kept as house pets. They can grow up to between 16 and 30 inches in length, with a tail that’s between 15 and 22 inches long. Fully grown kinkajous weigh between 3 and 10 pounds. Also, they have a wooly fur that consists of a golden outer coat and a grey undercoat.
Kinkajous can rotate their ankles on their hind feet backwards, which allows them to easily move in the treetops and to move up and down along tree trunks. They have prehensile tails that act like an additional arm. They use their tails to hold onto branches and to balance when they’re moving in the treetops. Sometimes, they even wrap their tails around their body and use it as a blanket.
They’re nocturnal creatures, which means that they’re the most active during the night. During the day, it will hide in tree holes. Nevertheless, they’re omnivores, which means that their diet is plant and animal based. Their diet consists of figs, melons, mangoes, apples, bananas, insects, birds and their eggs, and small mammals.
These animals use their 5 inch long, skinny tongue to extract nectar from flowers. It collects and transfers pollen from one flower to another while drinking nectar. This makes kinkajous very important in successfully pollinating the ecosystem.
