Mission to capture ‘mysterious creature’ in UK mongoose pool ends in sheepish laughs

The Loch Ness monster often comes up in jest when discussing unexplained phenomenon, but no one was laughing when a Welsh zoo shared photos of a “mysterious creature” and wondered if there was a connection.

It was a lizard-like animal, seen treading water at the Folly Farm Adventure Park & Zoo in the United Kingdom.

“This mysterious ‘creature’ was spotted by one of our guests over the weekend in the banded mongoose enclosure and had us all scratching our heads,” the site wrote Jan. 10 on Facebook.

“Was it a miniature Loch Ness Monster?… A mysterious water lizard?”

The zoo was curious enough to send a team into the enclosure to investigate and they soon captured the beast.

Closer inspection revealed it was not part of the wildlife collection and didn’t even qualify as an animal.

“It was just a toy crocodile that someone has dropped into the pond!” the zoo explained. “We breathed a little sigh of relief I can tell you. But it did give us all a laugh.”

Crocodiles and alligators are not native to the United Kingdom — or any European countries.

A photo showed the bug-eyed toy had been mutilated, and was missing some legs.

As of Jan. 13, the zoo’s post of the discovery has gotten more than 1,400 reactions, including jokes the find might qualify as a fashionable new dog breed called the “croca poo.”