Yakima, Washington - What kind of animal is this? At first glance, this creature looks like something straight out of the Lord of the Rings, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be a pretty cute little thing!

Employees of the Department of Transportation in Washington found the little guy in a parking lot near the city of Yakima, where he was climbing a pole and – admittedly – looking rather creepily into the camera.

"We don't know if it was dropped off or escaped.," the department posted on X on June 24.

As is usual in government agencies, the dubious case was passed on to the next department – first to the Department of the Environment, then the Tacoma Zoo, who took care of the unknown animal.

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There, experts determined that it was a young kinkajou (also known as a honey bear) that was roaming around the parking lot.

However, even the zoologists didn't know how it had made it there!

The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma wrote on Facebook that kinkajous actually live in the tropical rainforests of southern Mexico and Brazil, so Washington would be quite the journey away.

In the zoo's own veterinary clinic, the honey bear was finally examined. Apartment from a few ounces too little on his ribs, the exotic animal was doing okay. Whether he has to go back to the rainforest after his recovery or can stay safely in the zoo is still being discussed.

Although kinkajous are not threatened with extinction, they are on numerous hunting lists because of their fur and meat.