Remember the "Zombie Moose" That Baffled Alaskan Authorities?

The undead appearance of this animal left many scratching their heads. 

A viral photo of a moose in Alaksa has many speculating.

The photos were apparently taken in Anchorage last summer and show an animal with an almost zombie-like appearance. The moose is missing large patches of hair, exposing black and bright-red patches of skin.

What exactly caused the moose's strange appearance is up for debate. But according to the woman who took the photo, the moose suffered from a bear attack at some point in the past.

"That moose had been attacked by a bear by a neighbor's house," Patricia Grenier told the Alaska Dispatch News. "(The moose) was gone and everybody thought it had died, but then it was back and it was in my neighbor's yard."

But not everyone is satisfied with that explanation. The Internet was quick to note similarities in the animal's appearance to Sparky, a bison who was struck by lightning in Iowa and went viral earlier this year.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is well aware of the moose. In fact, the Alaska Dispatch News reports state veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen asked biologists to put the moose down so a necropsy could be done. Beckman's concern was the animal was suffering from winter ticks, which haven't been found in Alaska before.

Cancer, birth defects, and parasitic infection are all additional possibilities, according to Alaska Fish and Game.

But the mystery of the zombie moose may remain just that, a mystery. "September or October of 2014 was probably the last time we saw it," Grenier told the Alaska Dispatch News.

Similarly, biologists looking for the moose couldn't locate it either. As far as anyone knows, it hasn't been seen since then. So unless it is found again, the internet will be left speculating everything from forest fires to aliens as the cause. What do you think caused this moose's strange ailment?

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