Strange Panamanian Creature is a Sloth

Strange Panamanian Creature is a Sloth
By Paulo R. Poian

The animal was already dead and decomposing, and the story was concocted by teenagers. The case was debunked last week by members of Brazil's Equipo UFO.

The story became widespread last Thursday, with a subject initially identified with Panama's location of Cerro Azul, involving the alleged death of a creature stoned to death by four adolescents near a lake. The unidentified creature was described as an alien, as if this classification offered an exlpanation. According to Panamanian papers, the youngsters were frightened by its appearance and fearful of being attacked, stoned it to death and then left it in a lake. The worst aspect of the story is that a so-called wildlife expert said that the case was under investigation and that the creature had very odd characteristics.

Events of this type, which fall like parachutes (sic) into the hands of ufologists, have given rise to a new specific area of study in ufology, which will be very useful, employed and treasured: exozoology, that is to say, the study of supposedly alien animals. In this Cerro Azul incident, all that was needed was a comparison of images between the alleged ET and the fauna in the region in question. Observe the creature's mammaries, muzzle, and the arrangement and disposition of the legs.

Yes , dear readers. It is a Preguiza (sloth), more commonly known as bicho preguiza, with a habitat that ranges from Central America to Brazil in six different species. It is a mammal and a member of the families Bradypodidae (three-fingered) and Megalonychidae (two-fingered). The absence of fur and the clearly distended abdomen show that the creature was in an advanced stage of putrefaction, which completely blows away not only the story -- concocted by the teenagers and swallowed whole by the media -- but any extraterrestrial hypothesis. At most, a second hypothesis would involve the possibility of a fetal Preguiza, but judging from the images circulated, it appears to be too large for a fetus, unless the images were retouched and enlarged to obtain the desired effect. The expert in question probably rendered an initial opinion in a state of surprise (sic). Unfortunately, these situations have nothing ufological about them and can be swiftly and efficaciously explained, yet they wind up in our Inboxes, obstructing our path, as if we were the oracles -- or trashbins -- of any passing type of "unexplained" material.

(Translation (c) 2009, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Paulo Poian and G1 Noticias. Photo Credit: Globo.com/|Ceretti/Telemetro