A bizarre creature, dubbed the “oriental yeti”, has baffled scientists after emerging from ancient woodlands in remote central China.

The hairless beast was trapped by hunters in Sichuan province after locals reported spotting what they thought was a bear.

One 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 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.

"There are local legends of a bear that used to be a man and some people think that’s what we caught," he added.

Now stumped local animal experts have shipped the mystery beast to scientists in Beijing for DNA tests.

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