Connie Wigers, age 10, of San Diego, Calif., for her question:

To what family does the kinkajou belong?

The kinkajou is a cousin of the coatis who is a first cousin of our ring‑tailed raccoon. He is a native of the tropical jungles from southern Mexico to southern Brazil and there among the lofty branches he enjoys life with a variety of monkeys, gaudy birds and butterflies, It is believed that the remote ancestors of the kinkajou prowled around or. the ground and ate meat and vegetables as his cousins do to this day. Perhaps life on the ground became too risky for them. In any case, the kinkajou family took to life in the leafy branches and nowadays no kinkajou sets foot on the ground unless he happens to fall out of a tree ‑which is not at all likely.

In fact, you could not shake a kinkajou out of his tree if you tried with all your might and it is believed that ha could hang onto his branch even through a tornado. He has four strong little grasping feet and one of the most amazing grasping tails in the world. His prehensile. tail is about 22 inches long, several inches longer than his head and body. When it comes to tree acrobatics, he can outdo monkeys with ease.

The kinkajou is sometimes called the honey bear and though he is in no way related to a bear, he is most certainly a honey. His thick, soft silky coat is light or dark golden brown and his long tail is bushy pith dense fur. His head and face remind you somewhat of a house cat, although he does not have pussycat ears. His eyes are larger than those of a cat and his small ears are rounded and folded down to his head. Altogether he is a cute little fellow with disposition to match his cuddly coat.

In his native jungle, the kinkajou lives almost entirely on fruit. His favorite food is figs, which he finds growing almost everywhere. He squats in the branches and reaches out with either hand or either foot.  If the juicy morsel is still out of reach he grabs it with his long furry tail, which often does duty as an extra hand and arm. He may eat a leisurely lunch, using only his front paws, or he may gobble it up in a hurry, using all four paws to stuff the food into his mouth. Meantime. he is hanging to a bough by his long, furry tail ‑ upside down. And that is not all. He spends a lot of time swinging upside down by his tail, just for the fun of it, and when he gets tired he simply turns around and climbs up his own tail. The furry little animal makes a charming pet and expects to be dangled by his tail,‑ whereupon he wriggles around and climbs up into your hand.

In the wild, the kinkajou hunts by night. During the day he finds himself a cozy nest, perhaps in a hollow tree or in the dense foliage of a high branch. He curls himself into a furry ball, wraps around his furry tail and closes his aright eyes until after sundown.