Chaneque video unmasked

In March 2025, several paranormal themed sites, including Phantoms and Monsters and Coast to Coast AM, as well as many other accounts, posted a video of what seemed to be a weird, angry creature holed up underground with a camera in its face. The video was also mentioned on episode 106 of The Cryptid Factor. The creature was said to be a Mexican goblin-type thing called the chaneque, a figure with large eyes, wrinkled skin and pointed ears. But the most interesting thing about the viral clip is the sound, with the being emitting sounds suggesting that it was really pissed at being disturbed, squawking “Away, Away”.

I mentioned this video in my Pop Cryptid Spectator 11, where I discussed the plethora of manipulated and manufactured videos online portraying extreme cryptids. While these are obvious fakes, they tap into local cultural beliefs, as this chaneque video did. You can go to that post to see the original video.

Anyone using a modicum of critical thinking could see that the sound did not match the video, and that no creature that looks like this actually exists.

Today I was scrolling TikTok and getting my usual feed of animals that make strange sounds and there was the answer to this chaneque video. It’s a rock hyrax.

Rock hyrax are from the north African and Middle east desert areas, not Mexico. This video, called the “WAWA” video showed up on Instagram (apparently) in November 2024. It was the one used by the hoaxer several months later to make the faked chaneque video.

Hyrax are very vocal and make extraordinary sounds, and the “wawa” or “mama” vocalization indicates they are anxious.

The above hyrax video is real, there are no signs that it is anything other than what is presented. Even though I can’t find the exact origin of it, there is ample evidence supporting the interpretation that this is a real hyrax and they are known to make this sound.

I’m not sure if anyone in the comments to the original chaneque video connects this to a hyrax video, but that’s not a long shot. It’s very possible that I missed an earlier reveal because I have better things to do than follow the comments on the wave of spooky content.

What probably isn’t happening is the paranormal clickbait websites posting a retraction or explanation. They never do. This is why the internet is ever more overrun with garbage that people accept as real. So, for whatever good this debunk may do, I was compelled to share the solution to this mystery because hyrax are so awesome.