1:21PM, Fri May 4, 2012

Is This A 4ft Giant Rat ..... Or A Coypu?

By James Marley Location: Consett

It's the rat's tale that went around the world.

Brian Watson killed a 4ft 'giant rat' with a piece of wood in Castleside, Consett, County Durham.

It was thought the rodent was a mutant rat but now it has been suggested it could be a rare Coypu, a South American water rat, believed to have been eradicated from the UK decades ago.

After Sky Tyne and Wear broke the original story it was followed up across the world from the Pakistan Daily Times to Nine News Australia

Nick Robinson, animal expert and Newcastle pet shop owner said: "If it is a rat it's scary. From what I know of Coypu they do tend to be found around water a lot which this one obviously was.

Original rat's tale

"I've never come across a rat that is that size. May be someone had it as an exotic pet that just got too big and released it. But having said that most of the Coypu I have seen have got darker feet but this one has the lighter feet. It's intriguing.

"My heart is telling me to hope that it is a Coypu and not that there's some species of mutant rat running around."

Mr Watson told Sky Tyne and Wear: "It wasn’t very fast because it was that big. I managed to kill it there and then, I’ve never seen a rat as big in my life before."

The story came to light when Mr Watson’s friend, Bri Mitchell, posted a picture of the rodent after it had been caught, on Twitter.