Not native to Jersey, copyus tend to live near inland waterways, including those near the neighbouring Brittany and Normandy coasts, where the latest visitor is thought to have come from.
Claire Stevens, who found the creature, said that she had first mistaken it for a beaver while out walking her dog.
‘It was between the golf course and Le Hurel slip. It was just lying on the beach. I thought it was a beaver at first,’ she said.
‘Obviously it had been washed over from France in the easterlies.
‘It is quite unusual – I have not seen one over here before.’
She added: ‘I think it had only been dead for one or two days old. It did not really smell that much.’
Adult coypus can grow up to 60 cm in length and weigh between four and nine kilogrammes. They tend to live for over three years, with some, which have been kept in captivity, reaching the age of six.
John Pinel, principal ecologist for the Environment Department, said that it was the third case of the species washing up in Jersey that he knew about.
He said: ‘I know there was one that washed up just before Christmas but they do not tend to show up here that often.
‘It is likely that it has died in a river and been taken into the Bay of St Malo, where there are strong circular tidal currents, before ending up here.’
