Honey Bear Spotted in an Unexpected Place 2,000 Miles Away From Home

Honey Bear was sighted in an unlikely place, thousands of miles away from its habitat.

Honey Bear Seen in Washington

A roaming honey bear, known as a kinkajou, was discovered outside Yakima, Washington. Kinkajous are small mammals that inhabit the rainforests of Mexico, Central America, and South America. It was unexpected that the small creature was 2,000 miles away from its habitat. How it got there is still unknown.

However, animal experts believe that the weasel-like creature was purchased illegally and left to survive in the dry conditions after being abandoned.

According to The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, at the time of its rescue, it was "very thin" and weighed only 2.5 pounds, roughly four pounds less than the typical weight of a kinkajou. It is recovering at Tacoma, Washington's Point Defiance Zoo, and will stay there until officials find a new home.

Honey bears are carnivores with prehensile tails. They have wide ears, large dark eyes, and sandy yellow fur. They can also grasp objects. The zoo claimed they are frequently misidentified as primates because they look like monkeys.

The zoo claims that kinkajous are not suitable pets despite their adorable appearance. Although they are not endangered, kinkajous are threatened by the illegal exotic pet trade and are hunted for their fur.

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What Are Honey Bears (Kinkajou)?

Honey bears (Potos flavus) or kinkajou, pronounced "KINK ah joo," inhabit tropical jungles from southern Mexico to Brazil. Its tiny, hand-like feet have webbed fingers that terminate in tiny, sharp claws.

A kinkajou's thick, woolly fur serves as a raincoat to keep it dry. The kinkajou's tail is slightly prehensile, heavily furred, and longer than its head and body.

Given that the kinkajou has a golden-brown coat and enjoys nectar, this approximately translates as "golden drinker." Since kinkajous raid beehives in search of golden juice, the popular name "kinkajou" is derived from a term that means "honey bear." As you may have imagined, the kinkajou has a serious sweet taste!

Kinkajous resemble primates in many ways, including appearance. However, they belong to the Procyonidae family of carnivores, which also contains olingos, coatis, ringtails, and raccoons.

Although unrelated to bears, kinkajous, sometimes known as Honey Bears, are native to Central and South America. Kinkajous resemble primates more than they do, yet they are most closely related to raccoons. As they wander from tree to tree or devour fruit, kinkajous use their long, prehensile tail to grasp branches and trees.

They extract nectar from flowers using their 5-inch tongues. As they wander from bloom to flower, kinkajous collect pollen on their fur and acquire the ability to pollinate other flowers.

Kinkajous may be little and cute-looking, but they are incredibly aggressive and lethal. That's why experts have warned against petting them, no matter how adorable they look.

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