Kids kill Panama 'Montauk monster' by lake

(news.com.au) PHOTOS have emerged of a mutant creature which “sparked fear and confusion” by climbing out of a cave and approaching a group of children in Panama.

The photos appear to show the creature as a slimy, hairless humanoid.

Already dubbed “Gollum” by the UK tabloids, the 150cm tall creature emerged from a cave behind a waterfall on the shores of a lake near the small town of Cerro Azul and is drawing comparisons to the so-called "Montauk monster" found on the shores of a New York beach last year.

The children claim it started climbing over rocks to get to them. They defended themselves by throwing rocks and killing it.

The children told their parents they had thrown the body back in the lake.

When the parents went to investigate, it had been washed up on the shore.

One of the children told The Sun: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film."

The Metro shows pictures of it still washed on the shore several days later, having been picked apart by buzzards.

The animal is being investigated at Panama’s National Environment Authority, with one zoologist suggesting it may be some form of mutated sloth.

Internet speculation centres around whether the “monster” is actually a shaved sloth or pit bull terrier.

The shaved sloth theory has emerged as the most credible, given these photos taken in 1996 of a creature found on a jungle beach between Panama and Cost Rica where was later confirmed to be a decayed sloth.

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Original source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26090458-401,00.html
Date Retrieved: September 18, 2009