KINKAJOU (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus or Palos flavus)  , the single species of an aberrant genus of the raccoon family (Procyonidae) . It has been split up into a number of local races . A native of the forests of the warmer parts of South and Central America, the kinkajou is about the size of a cat, of a uniform pale, yellowish-brown colour, nocturnal and arboreal in its habits, feeding on fruit, honey, eggs and small birds and mammals, and is of a tolerably gentle disposition and easily tamed .