(UPI) England's Bristol Zoo is asking for the public's help to identify a "mysterious winged and horned creature" caught on a trail camera in a woodland area.

The zoo said the trail camera in the facility's woodland area, which is home to numerous wild animals, captured a photo of the "mysterious winged and horned creature."

"Our U.K. Conservation team made the discovery when looking through night-vision images from camera traps set up in the award-winning habitat where bears and wolves live alongside wolverines and lynx," the zoo said on its website. After reviewing the images they say the creature appears to have four legs and is like nothing they have spotted before.

Many observers said the animal in the photo appears to be a muntjac deer, but zoo officials expressed skepticism in a Facebook post, posting the mystery creature photo side-by-side with a deer picture.

Many comments under the post theorized out that the creature's "wings" and horn are likely the result of the camera's exposure capturing the animal's ears multiple times as it moved.

The zoo acknowledged the sighting came conveniently close to Halloween.

"The sighting of this mythical-like creature is a mystery to us here at Bristol Zoo Project and has been a great inspiration for the Halloween trail this year. Scotland has the Loch Ness monster and Cornwall has the Beast of Bodmin Moor -- have we discovered a similar mythical here in Bristol perhaps?" said Rosie Sims, the zoo's public engagement manager.

Copyright 2024 by United Press International