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Chinese hunters capture 'yeti'

DNA tests to reveal truth behind hairless beast

Beijing scientists are poised to carry out DNA testing on a mystery beast captured by hunters and dubbed the "oriental yeti", the Telegraph reports.

The oriental yeti

The creature was snared in Sichuan province "after locals reported spotting what they thought was a bear". Hunter Lu Chin said: "It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn't have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo. It also does not sound like a bear - it has a voice more 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?

He concluded: "There are local legends of a bear that used to be a man and some people think that's what we caught."

A quick trawl of the interwebs reveals a rather more plausible explanation for the animal: it's simply a Binturong with a nasty case of mange.

Aficionados of legendary beasts may recall the case of the Texan chupacabras - the fearsome goat-sucking hell critter which, some suggested, was actually either a Xoloitzcuintli or mangy coyote:

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