The feast of Bodmin

THIS real-life 'beast of Bodmin' was filmed eating in a British garden. But, rather than being a meat eater, this docile, cat-like creature was identified as a palm civet.

The animal eats berries and fruit from the coffee plant and the world's most expensive coffee - at £50 a cup - is made by extracting beans from its droppings. It weighs up to 5kg (11lb) and inhabits forests in the Philippines and China.

But this onw was spotted in Bodmin, Cornwall by a couple who left out food. They filmed the animal before experts at Newquay Zoo caught it.

'I suspect it escaped from a private collection,' said curator Stewart Muir.

Metro, 23 April 2009, p28.