Animal has experts puzzled: What is it?

Portland (Oregon) - This unusual animal is keeping people in Portland, Oregon, on the edge of their seats. The main question is, what is it? The fur nose was first spotted on October 9 by Richard Melling (64) and his wife near the Sellwood Bridge. Fortunately, the US American took a video of the four-legged friend and recently gave an interview to Oregon Live magazine.

"It definitely looked wild and looked like a puppy," said Melling, who knew for a fact that it couldn't be a dog. The biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife couldn't really make heads or tails of the man's picture either.

They came to the conclusion that it must be a fox. But they couldn't explain exactly what kind of species could be seen on the video.

"Honestly, we're not 100 percent sure," Benjamin Cate, a biologist with the Oregon Department of Wildlife, told Oregon Live.

In any case , the animal is "certainly rare", the expert confirmed. A few days later, the mysterious fox was captured. After that, light was finally shed on the case.

On Tuesday, the "Bird Alliance of Oregon" posted a message on Facebook. The fox has since been brought to their wildlife center.

The animal is said to be a snow fox. But: "Snow foxes do not occur naturally in Oregon, so this species is considered an exotic animal here," the team writes.

And further: "Its original range is in the far north in places like Greenland, Svalbard, northern Russia, Canada and Alaska".

Exactly how it came to Portland is not yet known. However, "we believe that the animal has only known one life in captivity".

One thing is certain in any case: even if it was rescued or removed from captivity, the animal can never return to the wild.