Lost bamboo rat wanders near Chon Buri cafe

A lost bamboo rat wandered near a cafe in Chon Buri‘s main city district, and the shop’s owner is now on the lookout for the rat’s rightful owner.

The cafe owner, Palm, found the rat near the entrance of his cafe located near the Phlapphla intersection in the Samet sub-district. Concerned for the animal’s welfare, he has been keeping the rat in a bucket and providing it with food and water, The Pattaya News reported.

The kind-hearted cafe owner has now launched a public appeal to help locate the owner of a lost bamboo rat. Palm believes that the animal must belong to someone, and has reached out to social media and various news outlets to spread the word about the lost animal, hoping that the rightful owner will come forward.

Anyone with information that could help reunite the bamboo rat with its owner is urged to come forward.

Samet Police Station has posted a statement with photos of the rat, providing Palm’s phone number.

Palm noted that the poor rat is stressed, and seems as though it will bite when people get close. Palm said he learned from the internet that the selling price for bamboo rats is about 40,000 baht.

Bamboo rats are burrowing rodents that are native to Southeast Asia. The nocturnal animals can grow up to around 60 centimetres long. Bamboo rats are considered a delicacy in some parts of Southeast Asia and are sometimes hunted for their meat.

In the wild, bamboo rats are known to burrow extensive tunnel systems, which can cause damage to crops and other vegetation.

Bamboo rats are named after their preferred food source, which is bamboo, but they also eat other plant material and occasionally insects and small animals. Their typical diet includes bamboo roots, but they will also feed on cultivated tapioca and sugarcane, according to Thai National Parks. The rats are found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.