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A 'honey bear' was spotted in Washington state, 2000 miles north of its habitat

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Dry and dusty, the East Selah Creek rest area outside of Yakima, Wash., is the last place you'd expect to see a kinkajou. I can already hear you saying a kink-a-what? Also known as honey bears, kinkajous are small mammals that live in the rainforests of Mexico and Central and South America. They have prehensile tails and can grasp objects. It looks kind of like a raccoon crossed with a monkey and maybe a groundhog.

Nobody knows for sure how this kinkajou made its way to the sage brush field plains 2,000 miles north of its natural habitat. But one was found at the rest stop on Monday. Kinkajous are often sold as exotic pets, and Washington state authorities think this one was either left by someone or it escaped. The kinkajou is still a little thin, but in good health. Right now it's at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Wash., until he finds a permanent home.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Ayesha Rascoe
Ayesha Rascoe is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First. As host of the morning news magazine, she interviews news makers, entertainers, politicians and more about the stories that everyone is talking about or that everyone should be talking about.