A young kinkajou was found Sunday in the great tropical rainforest of ... Yakima?
Either someone dropped off the kinkajou, or it escaped, at the Selah Creek Rest Area on Interstate 82, the Washington State Department of Transportation said Monday on X.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police rescued the nocturnal rainforest animal, WSDOT said, and took him to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, where he'll live temporarily.
Upon arrival, the zoo quarantined the kinkajou — a process that ensures a new animal is not carrying any diseases — in the hospital. He'll undergo a comprehensive wellness exam this week, the zoo said Tuesday on X.
Kinkajous are not endangered, the zoo said, but they are hunted for their fur. The exotic pet trade, which is illegal, threatens their population.
This kinkajou should be living in a tropical rainforest anywhere from southern Mexico to Brazil, where its species naturally resides.
"Despite their cuteness, kinkajous do not make good pets," the zoo said.
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