Rare animal – a moonrat – found in Krabi

[webfact]

Rare animal – a moonrat – found in Krabi

“We have never seen moonrat in this Wildlife Sanctuary before. This is the first time.”

By Tim Newton

 

 

A small creature that looks like a mouse, with a nose and mouth shaped like a pig, has been found in Krabi. It is believed to be a moonrat.

 

Krabi Defense Volunteer Officer, 53 year old Pornchai Sudrak, who found the animal, explains that he was jogging near his house in the evening and heard his dog barking so he went to check.

 

“The dog was chasing that small creature that has black and white hair. I went to stop the dog from chasing it and captured it in a cage because it looked exhausted. I called my neighbors to have a look as we had never seen anything like it before.”

 

Full story: https://www.phuketgazette.net/news/rare-animal-moonrat-found-krabi

 

-- © Copyright Phuket Gazette 2018-02-21

[petermik]

And tastes like.........

[Darcula]

3 minutes ago, petermik said:

And tastes like.........

 

Chicken?

[yellowboat]

Great, the little thing was enjoying life in the shadows.   Now it will be put on menus all over Asia.

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, Darcula said:

Chicken?

If the KFC disaster in the UK continues this is all they will have to eat. 

[Golden Triangle]

Damn lucky he had a cage in his pocket, I always take one with me when I go jogging..................

[BEngBKK]

Moonrat.... are you sure... I could just be a mutation caused by the pollution in TH 

[Morch]

Does it know the lottery numbers?

[tifino]

Just now, Morch said:

Does it know the lottery numbers?

 

oh dear! - an accident waiting to happen...

[jak2002003]

Quite cute really.  Looks like a cross between a rat and a badger. 

 

Happy to hear they released it and did not stick it in a cage in a zoo, or eat it.  

[foxboy]

All my UK friends will know instinctively that this is in fact a Womble 

[oldlakey]

32 minutes ago, foxboy said:

All my UK friends will know instinctively that this is in fact a Womble 

Uncle Bulgaria by the look of things

[Tracyb]

Looks like an Opossum!

[gk10002000]

looks a bit like a possum

[Bill Miller]

Cool!
Seems they are a kind of hedgehog without spines.
I am glad it was a conservation minded chap who discovered it, and it got released back into the wild. 

[Skeptic7]

Definitely a Moonrat. Some interesting info from the Interwebs...

 

The moonrat (Echinosorex gymnura) is a species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae. Moonrats inhabit most jungle terrain in southern Myanmar, Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra.They are small animals and are closely related to the short-tailed gymnure (Hylomys suillus) and to the hedgehog, which, despite their name, are not closely related to rats or other rodents. The moonrat is an omnivore, known to eat a wide range of invertebrates—for example, worms, insects, sometimes snails and crabs and other invertebrates found in moist areas. They will also eat fruit, and occasionally frogs or fish.

 

[chickenslegs]

On 21/02/2018 at 7:19 PM, foxboy said:

All my UK friends will know instinctively that this is in fact a Womble 

As there is a Moon connection, I thought it might be a "Clanger"

[oldlakey]

2 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Definitely a Moonrat. Some interesting info from the Interwebs...

 

The moonrat (Echinosorex gymnura) is a species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae. Moonrats inhabit most jungle terrain in southern Myanmar, Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra.They are small animals and are closely related to the short-tailed gymnure (Hylomys suillus) and to the hedgehog, which, despite their name, are not closely related to rats or other rodents. The moonrat is an omnivore, known to eat a wide range of invertebrates—for example, worms, insects, sometimes snails and crabs and other invertebrates found in moist areas. They will also eat fruit, and occasionally frogs or fish.

 

A nice looking thing, but is their diet compulsory

[Prairieboy]

On 21/02/2018 at 10:58 AM, webfact said:

a nose and mouth shaped like a pig

That would be a strange looking pig!