An enormous rat measuring one-metre in length including its tail has been captured in the grounds of a university in China.

The giant rodent – weighing as much as 10kg – was spotted scurrying along corridors and over rooftops at Wenzhou Medical University, sparking students to speculate it was the result of a genetic experiment gone wrong.

However, after staff eventually caught the creature using several fishing nets, they identified it in the school lab as a Copyu or Chinese river-rat and it was handed over to wildlife experts to be released in a remote location.

Some consider Copyus an invasive pest however they are commonly eaten in China, as their meat is said to be lean and low in cholesterol. Their fur is also prized and they are often sold in the US, China, Thailand and Taiwan with baby Coypus being sold for as much as £90 on some trading sites.

The species is not exclusive to China, only a few months ago a similar sized river-rat was discovered in a river in Tipperary in Ireland. The mammoth rodent named Rodney is just under one metre long and is thought to be an escaped pet.

People are now on the look-out for four giant turtles with highly developed ninja skills.