A visualisation of this bizarre species
The Canid-like Predator of China is, as the name implies, a predator with reported canid traits that supposedly existed in China. There are records of it as a problematic zoological form that seems to be an unrecognized species of (perhaps) larger wild dog, recorded especially on the borders of the former Hou-Quang, Quang-Si, Se-Tchuen and Pe-Tcheli provinces.
Description[]
As written, the creature was described with a robust build, as being a dog-like species, and its lack of a tail was mentioned. That supposed dog family member actively hunted its prey with intelligent tactics, and it was noted that it was dangerous to humans. As for studies, the terrestrial mammal was associated with unusual athletic movements and savage behavior.
History[]
Anecdotal records from missionaries on this rare, primitive ''tiger'' that occurred in packs, had been recorded from the wilderness of China up to the early 18th Century. In these times, the following bizarre species was said to haunt the forests, but they were then already rare in numbers.
Further historical records distinguished the animals as legendary creatures in the same way as creatures such as the Sukotyro (explained perhaps as a Babirusa). Charles Commeaux in 1970 doubted the existence of this bizarre carnivore. He wrote,
'less convincing is the history of the tiger without a tail.'
Several observers such as Abbe Grosier (1787) and Giovanni Laureati (1714) mentioned rare and interesting animals from the Middle Kingdom, and classified this unique species as real and biologically distinct. By others, it was believed to be an erroneously described Cuon alpinus, but more probably, that it could be another, already extinct canid. Thus, this now-extinct animal seems to be a meaningful wild species, which was perhaps recorded also in further sources, but these are yet unknown to cryptozoology.
In 1900 in a booklet named Notes on China, there were explanations that due to the progress of civilization larger animals were exterminated. Perhaps some populations had survived in the most remote parts of Central China until the early 20th Century. Many of these reports have been submitted by Tomasz Pietrzak, a Polish wildlife scientist interested in cryptozoology as a hobby and engaged in a project called League-scientifique.