Don't you just hate it when someone you thought you knew turns out to be something their not?
Earlier this week, a South American coypu hit the headlines after being spotted hanging around the banks of the Royal Canal in Dublin. Unusual indeed but the furry fella appeared to be just minding his own business and everyone pretty much just left him to it.
Except it now turns out that this so-called coypu isn't a coypu at all. Addressing the sightings, Waterways Ireland has issued a statement which says that the supposed giant 'rodent' is just a regular Irish otter. We thought we knew ya, bud.
The press release reads as follows:
'Earlier this week Waterways Ireland received notification of an unconfirmed report from the National Biodiversity Data Centre via National Parks and Wildlife Services of a coypu on the Royal Canal. We are obliged to take this seriously, given the potential implications posed by a coypu presence on Irish waterways. All evidence now leads us to believe that this was a case of mistaken identity and the report was likely that of native otter, which are present on the Royal Canal.'
Wow. We're developing some real trust issues here. While this case appears to be one of mistaken identity, Waterways Ireland are still encouraging the public to report any potential coypu sightings to their environment section on 061-922141
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