Mystery creature in lake?

This is from The Sun newspaper which is the equivalent of junk mail but interesting story with photos...follow the link. It looks like a dead sloth to me but I am not an expert.

TERRIFIED locals in a South American town are running scared after a strange creature they describe as "Gollum" crawled out of a lake and charged schoolkids. The beast — which has "sparked fear and confusion" in the small town of Cerro Azul, Panama — was spotted on Saturday when four 14 to 16-year-olds were playing by the waterfront. According to their account, reported by Panamanian news service Telemetro, the youngsters "screamed" when the five-foot creature emerged from a cave and started clambouring over rocks towards them "as if to attack them". In a "desperate bid to defend themselves" the four terrified boys said they hurled rocks at the strange creature to kill it, before throwing its corpse in the water and running away. Their disbelieving parents returned to the lake the following day — and were stunned to discovered the beast's body washed up on the shore. Experts have yet to examine the images — or make any statements regarding their discovery. One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film." The fictional Gollum — originally known as Smeagol — was a hobbit whose later name was derived from the "disgusting gurgling, choking cough he made".

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/weird/2642152/Mystery-beast-terrified-kids.html