The Chuti of Nepal

The above image was made by 6Sigillum6Diaboli6 on DeviantArt and is an excellent interpretation of the Chuti, a canine headed, tiger striped animal from Nepal.

Said to be a Hyena like creature, it is depicted in the art of Central Asia though I have not been able to find any of the artwork in any of my searches, just descriptions.

The creature is said to be large with a canine like head, tiger like striping and paws that have four toes facing foreward and one facing backwards on each paw. Said to attack livestock but pretty much leave humans alone, they are secretive animals reported in the Iswa and Choyang valleys as well as the Makalu-Barun National Park in Nepal.

One of the explanations of this creature is the Striped Hyena, which has a canine like head and stripes on it's body. Native to North and East Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Middle, Central and Southern Asia it is concievable that the people of Nepal could have seen one at a distance and wrongly identified it. But the fact that they describe the paws in such detail leads me to believe they actually saw at least one close up; Striped Hyenas have four toes like a canine with no back toe so that little detail leads me to think that it's not a hyena.


Now, the image above is of a Striped Hyena...and yes, it is striped but the stripes really don't strike me as "Tiger like" like the Chuti is described as having. They just don't have much definition and in some specimens even look like smudges or large spots, not stripes.


Above is another excellent image made by Bloodshot_1031 on DeviantArt. Slightly different from the top image but still very good in fitting with the description of the Chuti.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any of the original Nepalese artwork featuring this creature and not much more information then what I've put is known about it. Nepal is a very wild place with few people scattered over a lot of area and plenty of hiding places for any animal savvy enough to keep safe, so we may never find a specimen. But the fact that the people of Nepal believe it is a real, unidentified creature makes me hope that it is real and that some day we may find evidence of it.

~Shara