The Bassaricyon gabbii, also known as the bushy-tailed olingo, Northern olingo, or the olingo is part of the Procyonidae family. B. gabbii is called olingo solely because it is the most commonly seen of the species. It is locally abundant and is sparsely distributed in the western Amazon basin. This Bushy-tailed olingo is one out of the five species in the genus, Bassaricyon (Prange & Prange, 2009). B. gabbii is classified as a Low Risk Near Threatened mammal according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (Prange & Prange, 2009). Often, researchers confuse Kinkajou and olingo’s (Prange & Prange, 2009). In 1955 there was a live specimen that was collected in Panama and was brought to the United States. This specimen was sadly mistaking for a Kinkajou (Manville 1956). As mentioned, olingos and kinkajous are very similar and can be easily confused. For years now, these two have likely competed for resources (Kays, 2000). Studies have stated that kinkajous have dominated over B. gabbii in the wild but its geographic and local distribution could be influenced in part by competition with kinkajous (Kays, 2000).
Bassaricyon gabbii is typically found in Central America from Nicaragua through Costa Rica and western Panama (Hall, 1981). Some reporters have said that it has been sighted from Honduras and Guatemala (Helgen et al, 2013). Northern olingo’s are rare at sea levels and is usually found inhibiting montane and tropical moist forests from 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) up to around 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) in elevation (Helgen et al, 2013). In South America, it has been reported that B. gabbii has been found in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Prange & Prange, 2009). B. gabbii usually inhibits evergreen forests and forest edges (Pontes & Chivers, 2002). When found in deciduous forests or highly disturbed regions, it is considered an unusual sitting (Pontes & Chivers, 2002).
Males have been documented to be intolerant to one another in captivity, which would make the females unlikely to have multiple mates (Nowak, 1999). B. gabbii typically breed during the dry season and the mother gives birth to a single young after a gestation period, which lasts for around ten weeks (Prange & Prange, 2009). The young is born with its eyes closed and weights around 55 grams (Nowak, 1999). After 27 days, the baby’s eyes will open. During the nurturing period, the female will take care of the young and provide them with milk, grooming, and protection. The young is mostly a carnivore and is taught to learn how to hunt for prey but it is not known who is teaching them or what the male B. gabbii role in the parenting is (Nowak, 1999). It is documented that at 2 months of age solid food will be consumed and then at 20 to 21 months B. gabbii will have reached sexual maturity (Nowak, 1999). B. gabbiis is documented to live up for twenty-five years in captivity (maybe more) and about ten years in the wild (Prange & Prange, 2009).
Adult Bassaricyon gabbii (Northern olingo) has a head to body length of between 36 to 42 centimeters, which is about 14 to 17 inches. Bassaricyon gabbii weighs around 1.2 to 1.4 kilograms, which is equivalent to 2/6 to 3.1 pounds (Saavedra-Rodriguez & Velandia-Perilla, 1875). Its tail is between 38 to 48 centimeters (15 to 19 inches) (Saavedra-Rodriguez & Velandia-Perilla, 1875).
Northern olingo is an arboreal animal that has longer hind legs than it is fore legs. It has a long, bushy tail that is used as a balancing organ (Reid, 1997). The tail of an olingo is non-prehensile, non-tapering, and slightly tufted at the end (Reid, 1997). B. gabbii has a number of faint rings of darker fur along its tail.
Olingo’s face is short and rounded with large eyes and short round ears (Saavedra-Rodriguez & Velandia-Perilla, 1875). The fur ofBassaricyon gabbii is a brown and or grayish brown color that covers over most of the body. This then becomes slightly darker along the mid of the back. The under parts of the animals body has a light cream to yellowish coloring to it (Saavedra-Rodriguez & Velandia-Perilla, 1875). Interesting enough there is a band of yellowish fur that runs around the throat and sides of the head (Prange & Prange, 2009).
The feet of a B. gabbii are hairy with flattened toes ending with short and curvy claws (Prange & Prange, 2009). It is documented that only the females have one “pared of teats” that are located on the rear part of the abdomen (Prange & Prange, 2009).
In order to protect themselves from predators, Bassaricyon gabbii has a pair of anal scent glands that helps them secret foul smelling chemicals when they are frightened or feel threatened (Saavedra-Rodriguez & Velandia-Perilla, 1875).
The call of a Northern olingo posses two notes, "whey-chuck" or "wey-toll" sound.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources the B. gabbii is considered a Lower Risk/Near Threatened animal (Prange & Prange, 2009). It is said that the largest threat to the olingos are habitat destruction and degradation (Prange & Prange, 2009). B. gabbii, are protected by the Colombian legislation and nowhere else in the world (Prange & Prange, 2009).
In our ecosystem, the B. gabbii plays a minor role in dispersal of seeds. For humans, some people will say that the B. gabbii will eat the fruit that is being grown for commercial use but because of it’s sparse locations it is not fully known if B. gabbiis are a threat to crops (Pontes & Chivers, 2002)
Bassaricyon gabbii is a nocturnal herbivore, which feeds entirely on fruits. It has been recorded that they eat about 15 different species of fruits, one of them being figs (Prange & Prange, 2009). Olingos usually forage alone but have often been spotted eating in groups in large fruiting trees (Pontes & Chivers, 2002). B. gabbiis have also been reported to drink the nectar of balsa trees during the dry season as well as consume small mammals such as mice and squirrels (Prange & Prange, 2009). In Monteverde, Costa Rica there was a report that an Olingo captured hummingbirds. Whether or not the hummingbirds were eaten by the olingo was not stated (Prange & Prange, 2009).
There are five subspecies of olingo: B. g. gabbii,B. g. richardsoni, B. g. medius, B.g. neblina, and B. g. pauli(Wozencraft, 2005). There are two lowland olingo species in Panama and Northwestern South America that are the closest relatives ofB. gabbii (Wozencraft, 2005). B. gabbii, predators are known to be the jaguarondi, ocelot, tayra, several boas, as well as humans (not for food purposes but as pets when young). B. gabbii has anal scent glands that produce a horrid smell to “fight” off predators (Nowak, 1999). This scent markings can also serve for mating purposes as well as to mark their territory (Nowak, 1999).
