Monster river rat found roaming Chinese university grounds was a metre long with its tail

SOCIAL media is abuzz with pictures of a “giant rat” after the scarily large rodent was spotted on the campus of a prestigious university.

CREDIT: Australscope/CEN ONLINE USE ONLY Pic shows: the captured river rat. Chinese social media was abuzz with pictures of a "giant rat" this week after the scarily large rodent was spotted on the campus of a prestigious university.

SOCIAL media is abuzz with pictures of a “giant rat” after the scarily large rodent was spotted on the campus of a prestigious university.

The coypu, otherwise known as a river rat or nutria, was spotted scurrying through corridors and rooftops at Wenzhou Medical University, with students believing speculation online that they had seen some genetically modified monster rat.

Staff at the otherwise calm and rational medical institute tracked it down in the open and threw several fishing nets over the rat, which was described by one professor as being “a metre long with its tail”.

Yuck ... The giant rat was seen wandering the grounds of a Chinese university. Picture: Australscope/CEN

The 10kg creature, a semiaquatic species of rodent, was later contained in a cardboard box and identified in the school lab as a river rat, largely considered an invasive pest, due to its thumb-sized front teeth and strong claws.

Teachers at the university believe the animal may have been purchased online as a pet and accidentally set free on school grounds.

Reports also said young, “cute” river rat babies sell for about $200 on Taobao, China’s largest online trading website operated by e-commerce giants Alibaba.

However, claims that the unexpected rodent guest actually belongs to a student have yet to be confirmed.

The river rat has since been sent to local wildlife experts for safeguarding, after which it is likely to be released somewhere remote.