Footage of a mysterious creature roaming a West Virginia park has baffled local residents and animal experts, with some residents speculating that the creature is something from a lemur to a lion.
Brittany Keller was driving to work on Oct. 24 when she came across a herd of deer at Ritter Park in Huntington, the Mountain State's second-most populous city. He said he noticed the animal.
“When I stopped to take a closer look, I realized it was something I had never seen here before.” Keller told WSAZ 3News late last month.
A video taken by Keller shows a strange-looking brown and white creature moving through the park.
When Keller and the TV station asked other local residents what they thought the creature was, they were similarly perplexed.
“Oh my god! But really, what is that?” one woman asked Keller, to which he replied, “I don't know.”
Two women with children in strollers had similarly concerned reactions, with one screaming: “Oh my god!”
Another woman approached Keller and said with a laugh, “You sure look like a lion cub.”
Keller later shared the strange sighting on social media, where many people thought the mysterious creature was a lemur.
Andy McKee of the Zoological Center for Zoological Sciences dismissed those theories, telling the outlet that lemurs are not found in West Virginia, about 9,000 miles from their Madagascar habitat, unless they are lost pets.
“Lemurs are from the island of Madagascar, so it's very strange to have lemurs in this area unless they're someone's pet,” McKee said.
While many were quick to guess what this strange creature was, McKee sought to put an end to the conspiracy theory.
“It looks more like a fox with mange or some kind of disease than a lemur,” he told the magazine.
Mange, an infection of fur-bearing animals, often causes hair loss and scabbing, which may explain the animal's distinctive appearance.
