Mysterious 'Oriental Yeti' Trapped in China
04-07-2010, 04:47 AM
(April 6) -- It doesn't look like Big Foot, but a mysterious hairless creature discovered in China and dubbed an "oriental yeti" will undergo DNA testing.
Hunters in a remote wooded area in Sichuan Province trapped the unidentified beast after locals reported a bear sighting -- but what they found was not a bear.
"It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn't have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo," one hunter, Lu Chin, told the Times of London. "It also does not sound like a bear -- it has a voice like a cat and it is calling all the time -- perhaps it is looking for the rest of its kind or maybe it's the last one."
The animal has been shipped to Beijing, where scientists will perform DNA tests. Meanwhile, experts are already trying to predict the results.
According to Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist who has written 17 books on mysterious animals and legends like Bigfoot, the "oriental yeti" is not a yeti at all, but likely a kind of civet, a small carnivorous animal akin to the mongoose.
"My guess is this animal is either an Asian palm or Himalayan palm civet," Coleman told AOL News. "It's a kind of weasel-like animal that eats other small animals. Civets are really an animal all to themselves."
As for the creature's lack of fur, Coleman believes it has mange, a skin disease caused by mites.
"Mange sweeps through populations of small animals just like this one," he said. "The scratches on the animal's body are consistent with mange."
Despite the hype surrounding the discovery of the animal, Coleman said he believes DNA tests will show the finding is "in no way anything extraordinary."
Hunters in a remote wooded area in Sichuan Province trapped the unidentified beast after locals reported a bear sighting -- but what they found was not a bear.
"It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn't have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo," one hunter, Lu Chin, told the Times of London. "It also does not sound like a bear -- it has a voice like a cat and it is calling all the time -- perhaps it is looking for the rest of its kind or maybe it's the last one."
The animal has been shipped to Beijing, where scientists will perform DNA tests. Meanwhile, experts are already trying to predict the results.
According to Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist who has written 17 books on mysterious animals and legends like Bigfoot, the "oriental yeti" is not a yeti at all, but likely a kind of civet, a small carnivorous animal akin to the mongoose.
"My guess is this animal is either an Asian palm or Himalayan palm civet," Coleman told AOL News. "It's a kind of weasel-like animal that eats other small animals. Civets are really an animal all to themselves."
As for the creature's lack of fur, Coleman believes it has mange, a skin disease caused by mites.
"Mange sweeps through populations of small animals just like this one," he said. "The scratches on the animal's body are consistent with mange."
Despite the hype surrounding the discovery of the animal, Coleman said he believes DNA tests will show the finding is "in no way anything extraordinary."
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