Honey bear finds love

A new friend for rare pet

By Kevin Duguid

Published:

BEST OF MATES: Kito, right, isn’t lonely any more, now he has his female friend.

LOVE: Jodie Lynn found a mate for pet kinkajou Kito.

ONE of Aberdeen’s loneliest pets may be on the cusp of love.

Kito was Scotland’s only pet kinkajou, so owner Jodie Lynn had a problem trying to find him a female friend.

The rare and exotic animals are known as honey bears – but Kito, who isn’t even a year old, hates honey.

However, he is sweet on his new-found mate, who is yet to be named.

In fact he is so besotted with his new love that he was happy hand-feeding her bananas.

But poor Kito was not always so content.

After moving up to Aberdeen, he became lonely because he was parted from his parents.

Owner Jodie, who works at East Coast Exotics in Aberdeen, did not hold out much hope that her pet would find a partner.

And Jodie, 29, is delighted with the new love match.

She said: “We have managed to get a female. They are very rare pets and they only have one baby a year. Zoos tend to keep several females to one male.

“And to start with, Kito was a bit scared of her. He was brought up by me so he obviously thought he was a proper little boy.

“But now he’s cleaning her and feeding her. He also goes over and gives her cuddles – and he hand-feeds her bananas.

“He has been incredibly gentle and loving towards her and she has been quite shy.”

Jodie got the female kinkajou from the same friend who had found Kito for her.

She said: “I expected to wait up to five or six years for the female, so it was great.”

There are thought to be just a few kinkajous in the UK.

The animals originate from Mexico and Brazil.

kduguid@ajl.co.uk