“Mysterious animals” photographed by residents of Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (“Kobe Shimbun”)
Recently, residents in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan have reported finding a “mysterious animal” with a gray hairless body, a slender face and small ears. Local people have speculated that it is a wallaby or a hyena. After identification, the animal is actually a civet cat with an infectious skin disease, and experts warn people not to touch it.
In mid-June, a man in Hyogo Prefecture found two animals he had never seen before outside his home. He approached and took two photos, which he sent to the Hyogo Prefectural Forest Animal Research Center for identification. “It’s almost certainly a civet cat with scabies,” said the research center staff.
Scabies, which is spread by parasitic mites on the skin and can cause severe itching and full-body hair loss in animals, has been endemic in the civet cat population in Hyogo prefecture for more than 10 years and has now spread to wild boars and bears, the research center said. Forest animal expert Akira Taguchi reminded local people not to feed wild animals, and do not approach or touch them.
