Mystery creature beaten by workers is a bear

A strange creature that was beaten by workers at a Malaysian plantation has been revealed to be a malnourished and endangered bear.

Staff at the palm oil plantation told the Straits Times earlier this week that they were stunned when they saw the unusual-looking creature coming out of the jungle towards them and try to attack them.

“We were completely shocked as none of us had ever seen such thing,” worker Herman Tutu said.

“It had very strange shaped claws and when it saw us it came towards us. One of us then hit it with a stick several times until it passed out.”

Environmental group Naturetalksback said the creature was actually a sun bear, a rare species that has become endangered due to the large-scale deforestation taking place around them.

The bear had either lost its fur either from disease or because it was abused and shaved, the group said in a post on its Facebook page.

“A local endangered bear gets the living daylights beaten out of it, is filmed, and paraded on the internet as a “freak of nature” or a monster. This is not right.”

Video filmed by the workers shows the bear gingerly making its way back into the forest after it was beaten.