Beast of Bosnia

In a case that seems more like an episode of the X Files than actual fact in the Balkans, former soccer player and trainer Damir Bradarac hit an animal with his car early Wednesday near the centre of Zenica, but when he got out of the car to look at what he had hit, it was like nothing he had ever seen before.

"It's about 21 inches long. On the ends of its legs it has amphibious palms with five fingers, very similar to humans, unusually long legs which veterinarians believe can serve for jumping, a long neck, keen eyes, a flat head," read the description in Jutarnje Novine Friday. The picture on the front page showed the strange creature's razory teeth to advantage as well.

Bradarac took the animal's body to veterinarians in Zenica, who were confused and told him nothing like it had ever been seen in the area. Zenica citizens were also concerned, because a "carnivorous animal" had been found in the centre of town. A Jutarnje team volunteered to take the corpse to Dr Rizah Avdić at the Veterinarian-Anatomy Department in Sarajevo. "When we came to the Veterinary Department, the porter at the entrance already knew we were coming. He only asked, 'Is that it?'" wrote one of the reporters.

Dr Avdić told the paper that the animal was male and that it could possibly be related to domesticated cats. "I can't say now what exactly it does, but I can say that I saw a similar animal before and that they live in our forests," he said. "Everything will be known tomorrow after the autopsy."

As for Bradarac, the discoverer of the animal, which he dubbed "the little dinosaur," he said he was curious to find out what it was. "I want to find out the truth... [so] that we know what kind of monsters are roaming our streets," he said. "I can't understand why the [respective] authorised institutions are not interested in this case." Bosnian paranormal phenomena.