A rumor of the explorations to India

 A mysterious ursid living in Sri Lanka 

   Sri Lanka is a little-known and vaguely heard location worldwide, it is part of the Indian sub-continent that is often completely ignored internationally and that has validated the fact of having a large part of its green areas still standing, giving us these many enigmas, such as the existence of a mysterious species or sub-species of bear, Come, let's see this case, thanks for reading in advance.

The mythical red bear of Sri Lanka 

Known in the local language as rahu walaha or waga walaha, it is a strange type of bear, mentioned and supposedly sighted in the north of Sri Lanka, specifically the dry forest areas by several renowned naturalists.

This animal has been talked about for centuries, as Arab and Roman traders who visited the islands spoke about a small bear with reddish brown fur that lived in Celian and so during the British expeditions this mystery increased.

Evidence of its existence 

Some renowned naturalists such as the famous Thomas Pennant wrote about this supposed ursid, describing it as similar to the Asiatic black bear, although the rarest evidence of its existence was given in the mid-1850s, When, according to records and diaries from that place, a skin of these was recovered in Trincomalee, it was a reddish brown color, with no resemblance to the native bears of the area.

Likewise, there was also talk of a living specimen seen in those areas of Celian, although the strangest evidence was a supposed skull found in Celian, which is lost today but when analyzed by experts it was determined that it resembled the sun or Tibetan bear and that it was more elliptical than that of the bears in that area, Curiously, it is not mentioned that it has physical or fur characteristics corresponding to the native bears of those areas, so a direct relationship would be ruled out according to analysts.

Identity of this

   Well, there have been several sightings over the years, but the true identity of this animal is never raised, because the question of what it really is still remains.

According to an article written by William Thomas Blanford, these animals could be an extension of the Himalayan bear that has this color mutation, Relying on the tradition of the Veddas, who mention having seen these animals on the island, of course without evidence, although the most serious claim was made by naturalist w.w.e Philips, he mentions that this has been seen a couple of times in mainland India and has been shot and even captured alive, being described as a bear with reddish fur with yellow tones, but anyway.

Sightings continued to a point between 1940 and 1967, the year in which the last one was recorded, So this creature, if it existed, is already extinct and due to the lack of information, almost no one has talked about it in the West, so I will leave you a longer article at the end, But the question always remains, what was this creature?

Final analysis

     Well, I wouldn't know what to tell you about this, since if everything turns out to be correct, it could have been a variety of the Tibetan bear or the sun bear that came to inhabit those islands, otherwise it could also have been a rare mutation of the big-mouthed bear, giving it a mysterious appearance, although this is doubtful, There is a very low possibility that there is also a different subspecies, a product of insular endemism.

Anyway, it is a shame that this variety will end up being lost like this, without being able to be studied or investigated, leaving only a skin and a skull now missing as evidence, the only thing left is that one day the skull will be found among the collections of the Parisian museum and can be analyzed to give it a real identity.

Thank you for reading, I hope you support this and share it, do me a favor, this was a short article with few images since I haven't been able to find much about it.

[Links of interest]

https://lankanisle.lk/index.php/2021/11/09/the-rahu-walaha-or-red-bear-of-sri-lanka-extinct-or-alive/

https://youtu.be/qbll4pt6cJk