The story about the ‘alien animal’ which is apparently on the loose in India attacking humans, is actually a real animal in Borneo with a rare skin disease.

 

A video of a strange-looking alien animal clutching at the metal cage went viral over the weekend.

The message accompanying the video claimed, that “very unseen strange animal had been caught in Kerala on the Karnataka border. It had apparently been eating all animals including humans.

The post went on to say that a total of 4 had been reported but they only managed to catch 1. It then had a warning to be careful while traveling near the jungle.

But a quick search on the internet gave us the real story…

The actual video and photographs are real but from January last year in Borneo, Malaysia.

The very strange beast is actually a timid diseased sun bear that residents had captured to help. Some locals thought it was an “alien” at first and some had even pelted it with stones until they realized that it was a sick bear.

A healthy sun bear has a lush dark fur with a honey-coloured patch around its neck. Conservationists say the sun bear is a protected species in Borneo as numbers are declining rapidly due to loss of habitat.

Malaysian media had reported last year January that the diseased sun bear was captured and the authorities were nursing it back to health… and those very images were the same ones doing the rounds now.

Another pic from a different angle and you clearly see that it’s a bear.

sick-sunbear-rescued-1

The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) announced with deep regrets, the demise of the sun bear in the late evening of May 18 2015

The sun bear which had appeared to be recovering at Matang Wildlife Centre had been very sick for a long time. An autopsy concluded that the animal died of late-stage cancer.

“The animal had not been eating well and vomiting. Worrying for its health, emergency medical intervention was performed under sedation. It was also fed with fluids through IV and food through a stomach tube,” SFC said in a press statement.

“Unfortunately, it succumbed to late-stage cancer with metastatis in the lymph nodes and adjacent organs as well as obstruction in the stomach due to primary tumour with origin in the stomach or pancreas.”

SFC added, “A detailed examination of the bear also revealed that it was in fact a very old bear and not just a full adult as previously thought.

“Cancer aside, the bear had probably reached the end of its natural life span.”

The sun bear was captured at an oil palm plantation in Bintangor on April 2 and was sent to the Matang Wildlife Centre for rehabilitation.


Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens.
Sources: The Dodo | The Sarawak Forestry Corporation

About the Author

Brent Lindeque is the founder and editor in charge at Good Things Guy.

Recognised as one of the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South African’s as well as a Primedia LeadSA Hero, Brent is a change maker, thought leader, radio host, foodie, vlogger, writer and all round good guy.

1 comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *