"Oriental Yeti" captured

Multimedia Archive 00704 Bear 585X350 704962A-1

According to The Times, this unusual animal was captured in the Sichuan province in remote central China. Nicknamed "the oriental yeti," the unidentified animal is on its way to Beijing for DNA tests. "There are local legends of a bear that used to be a man and some people think that’s what we caught," one of the hunters said. I dunno... Looks to me like a hairless bear. Besides, everyone knows that real Yetis look like this.

"‘Oriental yeti’ that looks like a bear without fur shipped for tests" (Thanks, Xeni!)
UPDATE: Naturally, Loren Coleman has taken a hard look at this story over at Cryptomundo.

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Bucket

Silly, that’s no yeti.

It’s a hodag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodag
Anonymous

I say release it and let it be. I just have this grotesque image in my mind of random scientists poking at it with sticks. I’m sure its a bear that was exposed to something that caused it to lose its fur or it has a genetic defect.
Yana

Bears with mange are the simplest explanation for all yeti/bigfoot sightings.
- Anonymous
  
  Agrees with above – the poor little thing looks like it’s got a bad case of sarcoptes mite infection – check the rash on the back and on the elbow. (not a vet, so i don’t know the proper anatomical term for a bear’s elbow)
pommes11

Looks like a young tauntaun…
Anonymous

YETI phone home.
Rolf Schewe

It could be as simple as someone someone shaving a bear for it’s fur and releasing it. Those red marks might be razor burn.
johnmcorg

Wait a minute… half man, half bear…. half pig? Could it be?
- Anonymous
  
  It’s Man Bear Pig. or a Binturong.
- Anonymous
  
  Manbearpig!!!!! i was waiting for someone to say it!! !
  AHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!! looooooooooool
  .. i knew Al Gore was right!!
  
  :D
- Anonymous
  
  dang… i was hoping i’d be the first to connect the dots to get MBP.
Marcel

Whatever it is, if it’s captured in China, it will be eaten.
Xeno

I got dibs on shaved panda
Quothz

Feh–this is obviously a grass mud horse.
Anonymous

Give it First Aid. I see abrasions. Rehydrate.
Anonymous

its a bear that lost its hair due to mange or some other disease. its pretty common.
stitchpirate

Nice marmot.
Anonymous

i think it a tree kangaroo
Anonymous

Examine the animal and then release it… poor animal :(
wendyleah

That looks like a terrified animal in a rusty old cage to me. I hope they treat and release it as quickly as possible instead of transporting it to a city for DNA testing.
Anonymous

Leave the poor creature alone, how would you like to be kept in a cage and have people sick needles in and run tests on you. It is a wild creature, let it stay that way. RELEASE IT BACK TO IT’s HOME!!!!!!!!!
Jason Rizos

This picture makes me think animatronic leftover from The Dark Crystal.

Barring that, a yeti.
Blinde Schildpad

This gets me all intrigued about the famed Occidental Yeti, roaming wild through the rugged plains of Germany. It’s rumored to be even more susceptible to horrifyin’ skin diseases than it’s oriental cousin!

Just follow the “flakes”…
RuthlessRuben

Or maybe it IS a new species. You never know. Skepticism in biology is why these test were invented. If it’s something new, we’ll hear, if not, this will be the last time you’ve ever seen this picture outside of a joke, and for better or for worse, that weird naked mountain-kangaroo-bear-whatever is off the radar.

Main thing that irks me with this is: “How did something with no fur and no significant fat deposits survive in a province that is mostly mountains?”. So I’m actually with the skeptics here, but still, you never know.
JDMcDonnell

If they really wanted the attention, why didn’t they just crazy glue a tusk onto it’s forehead and call it an “Oriental Unicorn”?

What we have here is obviously the ugly mange-ridden love child of a Chupacabra and a Sasquatch, and believe me – you do not want to see these two going at it on the Discovery Channel.
Anonymous

wooow.~~cool~~
babyDavee

Westley, what about the R.O.U.S.’s?

Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.
Anonymous

I can’t be the only person with the chuff chuff chuff sound of mutatated gaint mole rats running through my mind. Where’s my combat shotgun when I need it.
Anonymous

look, this is a fucking ManBearPig and we all know it.
elleomnom

pretty sure this is what a real yeti looks like http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/skifree_yeti.jpg
taranw

i think it is a deformed bear.that is that, people.
Anonymous

This is like a wombat
Anonymous

I doubt this is an undiscovered being. The unhealthy dry cracked skin doesn’t look natural. You get hairless cats and you see their skin is smooth and hydrated, and so thats why I think it’s unlikely that this is this animal’s natural form. It could be mange or something. I hope it’s treated fairly and if it is a known animal with health problems I hope they can sort it out.
Artimus Mangilord

Looks like a bear with mange or a bear’s version of alopecia. Next.
Anonymous

Hi, thought you might like my Deerhunter/Yeti film as it provides a fuller account http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWzVOOisdJ0
rpadair82

WENDIGO! WENDIGO!
Bray_beast

Gennet/Fossa isn’t a bad guess, but the ears say binturong. Any case, it’s pretty sad. This thread also proves, once again, that nothing riles my internet goat more than people really misidentifying animals, joking or not. Hmm.
Anonymous

it seems like a big rat
or a chupacabra
maybe it’s something new
but how did it live in winter?
annick

oh dear… I’m concerned about how this poor animal will be treated… it doesn’t look healthy to begin with. Now let’s think China, how can we exploit and torture THIS species…? just saying they don’t have a good animal treatment track record. =/
- Anonymous
  
  I can’t believe that only ONE commenter pointed this out. Not like I’m trying to pull a Bill Frist here and diagnose from afar, but this does not look like an animal that’s being treated well.
- Lobster
  
  At least they’re probably not going to eat it…
stanleyk

Has anyone seen info on how big it is? Wikipedia tells me that binturongs are 9â€“14 kg (20â€“31 lb) on average whereas red pandas might get up to 6 kg (13 lb). It looks like either would have been out of its normal range in Sichuan, though; especially a binturong.
Anonymous

“Yeti” is a mis-translation of the word meti” which, in the local language means Bear
Anonymous

Seems to be poisoning by radiation…
Hmmm. These poor animal need several heal & investigate about his sickness…
Anonymous

wild animal in small wire cage = sad
taranw

whatever it is its no binturong
Jabber

It looks awfully like the Montauk Monster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montauk_Monster
- arkizzle / Moderator
  
  Ha! Timing!
arkizzle / Moderator

looks a bit like this http://boingboing.net/2008/07/29/gawker-reports-on-mo.html
Anonymous

I’ll take it and raise it as my son or daughter. Or if I can get one of each I’ll breed them. They’d sell like hotcakes!
Trent Hawkins

yes yes… all well and good, but how does it taste?
RuthlessRuben

Not wanting to defend the Chinese way of treating animals here, believe me I don’t, but seriously people, if something like that ran into a trapper’s sling somewhere in Back-o-Beyond, Texas, I’m pretty confident that the first vetinarians and people with suitable holding containers would arrive HOURS after the first bloke with a decent camera put something on the web. Now, considering the thing was caught in some remote mountain village somewhere in the sticks in central China, I guess that ratty cage was the only thing they had handy. Lets just be glad its not chained to a post via a ring through its nose.
hectocotyli

John McKay at Mammoth Tales calls it, I think: A Binturong with mange.
http://mammothtales.blogspot.com/2010/04/mystery-animal-baffles-scientists.html
- apoxia
  
  What you can’t see in the photo on this post is that the animal has a long tail – hence not a bear. If you check out hectocotyli’s link you can see the tail. Also, it does look like a mangy binturong to me also.
  
  I hope it gets some treatment for its skin condition and gets released back into the wild.
Anonymous

Its the Chupacabra! We have them down here in South Texas.
- taranw
  
  you are a fool!its no chupacabras.
igpajo

Could it be a terribly misplaced Capybura, with mange?
Image for comparison:
http://files.sharenator.com/Patagonian_Cavy-s500x667-2272-580.jpg
- gijoel
  
  My God Arthur. What nefarious scheme is this? They’ve put our Speak in a CAGE!!!
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_%28The_Tick%29
Anonymous

Id guess at a Gennet \ Fossa (obviously very lost)
PauloButt

So, this is what you pinks think a yeti looks like, huh? Yetis have been breeding with humans for a long, long time, and their offspring surround you. But if you have to ask, you’ll never know. Praise Bob!
- stanleyk
  
  Give me slack or give me food. Or kill me.
13tales

Ah, reminds me of http://boingboing.net/2009/04/16/xeni-i-think-were-go.html
Good times.

*wipes away tear* I love you, Boing Boing.
Anonymous

Looks like a Fossa from Madagascar… minus the fur.
mdh

mange or radiation poisoning.
ecobore

poor thing in that tiny cage. looks absolutely terrified.. probably won’t make it all the way alive.. Hmm, China, respect for animals and humans zero.. says it all!
Anonymous

I’m guessing it’s a giant aquatic rodent of some sort. Wouldn’t want to stumble on one at twilight by the moor.
ill lich

“Oriental yeti” is redundant, since the original yeti was/is from the Himilayas (a part of which is already under Chinese control.) Plus this looks a lot more rodent-like than ape-like, so I think “Chinese chupacabra” would be better.
Anonymous

could also be a red panda or even a tanuki.
- Anonymous
  
  Looks nothing like a red panda!
Anonymous

I say it looks like the Toronto Terror, Baldy the Raccoon:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/eliot/toronto-terror-26q

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/675053

“Very cute”? I think not.
Anonymous

Looks like a hairless Kangaroo to me!
Anonymous

How do you say “Fuzzy Wuzzy” in Sichuan Mandarin?
Beryllium

“Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson, . . . It was a ship which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.”
Anonymous

That is most certainly a mangey civet cat or binturong…I’ve treated MANY animals for mange. There’s also no espcially distinguishing physical traits to suggest that it’s some new species, it is most certainly built just like the animals I and others have referrenced. Poor critter, somehow I just “know” he’s not going to get the care and help that he needs.
taranw

i think it is a deformed bear because it has round years and a long head which is bearlike
RedShirt77

Wow, this poor thing looks miserable. I hope someone is making a nice sweater for it. And get it out of that tiny dog crate!
Anonymous

Looks more like a wallaby who has had the misfortune to have been shaved to this Aussie.
- Anonymous
  
  I have to agree with our Aussie friend. Looks exactly like a VERY misplaced Wallaby with no fur.