An unusual-looking creature dropped off by an anonymous man has left Chinese zookeepers puzzled.

The zoo said the rat-like animal was 25cm long and had marbled tortoise-shell coloured fur with pointy paws and whiskers.

The spotted brown-and-orange animal likes to eat grass and cannot be identified by zoologists.

Keepers from the Wenling Zoo in south-eastern China believe this animal could be a new species of monkey or squirrel and will monitor its development to see if it will grow into something recognizable.