A Guidebook To Hidden Animals Web
A Guidebook To Hidden Animals Web
A Guidebook To Hidden Animals Web
A Treatise on Cryptozoology
Text and illustrations Philippe Coudray
Translation by Margaret Webb
www.philippe-coudray.com/Pages/A-guidebook-
to-hidden-animals.html
© Philippe Coudray
CONTENTS of the dwarf gorilla and The gazeka 105 The beast of Soay 161
of the bili ape of Africa 56 The giant sloth 106 The web-footed crocodile 161
The giant armadillo 108 Marine reptiles 162
Introduction to cryptozoology 5 The bigfoot or sasquatch 58 The Andean wolf 109 The marine horse 163
Why this book ? 8 The skunk ape 60 Esakar-paki or the unknown peccary 110 The long-necked eared seal
The dwendi of Central America 61 The habeby 111 or Loch Ness monster 164
1- Hominids 10 Hairy dwarfs of South America 62 The mangarsahoc 112 The pygmy seal 167
The big yeti 12 The vasitri, the shiru, the guayazi, The tsomgoby 113 The multi-fin 168
The little yeti 14 The didi, the bacloo, the yoshil, The mammoth 114 The multi-humpback 169
The teh-Ima 16 The vasitri, the oocoomar, The dwarf bear of Nepal 116 The super otter 170
The wild man of Asia 17 the mapinguary 63 The white bear of Tibet 116 The ri 171
The small gracile man of India 20 The giant bear of Kamchatka or Steller’s sea-cow 172
The nittaewo 21 Map of American bipedal primates 64 irkuiem 117 The marine monkey 173
The orang-pendek, sedapa or batûtût 22 The sukotyro 118 The whale with two dorsal fins 174
The menehune 23 Footprints 66 Giant bats 120 The two cetaceans with
Primitive men of Malaysia 24 Classification of bipedal hominids 68 high dorsal fins 175
The proto-pygmy of Malaysia 25 4- Reptiles except snakes 122 The southern narwhal 176
The kapre 25 2- Felines 70 The three-toed lizard 123 The whale without a dorsal fin 177
The hibagon 26 The big cats 71 Flying reptiles 124 The white-finned whale 177
The kappa 28 The mngwa or nunda 72 The mokélé-m’bembé 126 The whale with a marked back 177
The oni 29 The aquatic saber-toothed feline 74 The chipekwé 128 Alula’s whale 178
South-east Asian giants and dwarfs 30 The mountainous saber-toothed feline 75 The railalomena 129 The Greek dolphin 178
The bipedal ape of Vietnam 32 The dingonek 77 The monster of Kafue 130 The Senegalese dolphin 178
The yowie 33 The ndalawo 78 The spiny-backed reptile 131 Illigan’s dolphin 178
The jimbra 34 The forest lion 79 The gauarge 132 The rhinoceros dolphin 179
The tjangara 35 The damasia 80 Giant monitor lizards 133
The jundadee 35 The n’goli 81 Aboriginal memories 134 8- Snakes, batrachians
Map of Asian bipedal primates 36 The onza 82 The giant tortoise of Madagascar 135 and the like 180
The South American mountainous The lipata 136 The crested cawing cobra 181
Comments on the map saber-toothed feline 83 The kipumbubu 137 The northern giant snake 182
of bipedal Asian primates 38 The South American aquatic The nsanga 138 The taguerga 183
saber-toothed feline 84 The beast of Karoo 139 The tzuchinoko 184
The X1 40 The water tiger or ou entaieva-yawa 85 The worm with legs or tatzelwurm 140 The olgoï-khorkhoï 185
The X4 41 The shiashia-yawa 86 Giant snakes 186
The kakundakari 42 The tiger-tapir or pama-yawa 86 5- Birds 142 The Californian giant salamander 187
The agogwe 43 The rainbow tiger or tshenkutshen 87 The moa 143
The hairy dwarf of the Ivory Coast 44 Other mysterious South American The roa-roa 144 Bibliography 188
The apamandi 45 felines 88 The koau 145
The spiny primate 46 The marsupial tiger 89 The great auk 146
The dodu 47 The warrigal 90 Giant raptors 148
Kalonoro, trétrétrétré, and ombas Australian black panthers and pumas 91
of Madagascar 48 6- Fishes 150
3-Other non-marine mammals 92 The unidentified shark 151
Comparison of maps of hairy Unknown sirenians 93 The lau 152
dwarfs and australopithecus The adjule 93 The yero 153
fossils of Africa 49 The unknown elephant 94 The megalodon 154
The small hairy elephant 96 Giant fishes 155
The giant of Tano 50 The monster of Lake Tanganyika 97 The eel-shaped one 156
The bili or other anthropoid ape 51 The unknown rhinoceros of Gabon 98 The yellow one 157
The mulahu or kikomba 52 The dwarf rhinoceros of Liberia 99
The black and white anthropoid ape 53 The nandi bear 100 7- Marine cryptids 158
The pygmy gorilla 54 The thylacine 102 The colossal squid 159
The small thumbless anthropoid ape 55 The bunyip 103 The giant jellyfish 160
Map of bipedal primates, The waïtoreke 104 The luminous creature 160
2 3
Introduction to cryptozoology
5
American peccary or the unknown against a surprising phenomenon : the be understood, impenetrable forests, bipeds, would not pose a problem if
Saharan wolf, this would hardly upset more interesting a subject is, the less swamps and mountains are much vas- our world were lasting. To discover and
academic zoologists, who would appre- interest is taken in it. ter universes than plains, because of prove their existence would only be a
ciate the likelihood of these researchers their fragmented nature : covering a question of time and mankind is not in
extending the lists in natural history Paleontological models baffled hundred meters in a tropical forest is a hurry. However, most of their habitats
museums. However, cryptozoologists’ the equivalent of dividing the distance are today threatened in the short term
researches also concern animals which In addition to hairy bipeds, numerous « up into small portions ; scrambling up a with disappearance, quite a number
are perhaps not animals : numerous cryptids » (animals belonging to crypto- mountain, negotiating numerous boul- of cryptids risk becoming extinct even
bipeds of clearly separate species are zoology) turn out to be prehistoric ani- ders and avoiding crevices, increases before having been discovered. And it
observed worldwide. The famous yeti mals with the arrogance of not having the distances. In the same way, all is perhaps already the case for some
is just one example of these quasi-hu- really disappeared : that, too, which these worlds of plants, water and rocks of them. Destroying habitats is a way
mans which haunt most of the inac- invalidates a good number of paleon- multiply at every possible opportunity for humans, unbelieving of the richness
cessible regions of all the continents tological models, strikes the scientists hiding-places and unsuspected nooks of their world, to be right one day : the
and, particularly, mountainous forests. who often refuse to know more about it. and crannies. Without forgetting the earth will soon resemble the idea they
These creatures, whose origin remains worldwide network of caves which is have always had of it : a planet poor in
mysterious (prehistoric men or evolved Forests, swamps and mountains : a far from having been fully explored, nor species, without unknowns and without
apes), touch on a sensitive subject : our fragmented universe the underwater world whose abyssal surprises. To show that large, unknown
own identity and our degree of separa- depths, it is well known, hide a totally species still exist gives one more rea-
Another cause can be added to the
tion from the animal world. unknown world. son to save natural environments. It is
official rejection : recognition of the fact
also a case of struggling against the im-
that the current scientific world has not The dogma of omniscience
Ape-men who undermine scientific poverished view of the world that those
yet explored all the parts of our planet.
objectivity who would transform it into carparks for
Because it is a question of a persistent A classical intellectual error of the
supermarkets wish to impose on us.
Psychological reluctance to tackle such myth : at a time when we are sending scientific world consists in thinking that
a subject undermines the scientific ob- probes to the planets of the solar sys- whatever has not been disco-
jectivity of many scientists. Even if they tem, and even to exoplanets, it is ge- vered or demonstrated does
remain objective in their work methods, nerally considered that the Earth has not exist. Whence the fee-
they are not always so in their choice of been well known for a long time. Many ling of knowing all in certain
subjects studied. They simply put aside inaccessible regions have, however, domains. Let us not forget
those which, unconsciously, come up not been investigated or have only that, at the beginning of the
against their common sense. The his- been rarely penetrated. It is, in fact, far last century, physicists decla-
tory of science abounds in examples of more difficult to explore distant corners red that physics had reached
stubborn psychological resistance on of the Amazonian forest than the bare the end of its prospecting
the part of the scientific world to most surface of the planet Mars. Surprising and had nothing more to dis-
of the major discoveries (the only two an attentive animal with fine hearing in cover. This was prior to the
countries in the world to possess an the labyrinth of an impenetrable African discovery of relativity and
official centre of research into crypto- swamp, extending over areas as large quantum physics. Another
zoology are the ex-Soviet Union and as several French departments, repre- error consists in concluding
China). The file on wild men (distinct sents a far greater challenge than wal- that a species disappeared at
from the yeti) of Neandertal type in Asia king on the Moon. Covering in depth the date of its most recently
is, however, particularly full, rich, pre- the Siberian taiga at –60°C for several discovered fossil.
cise and not to be discounted. It has months, without a budget, is a wager
been studied for many years by such that is much more difficult to win than it Discovery before disap-
persons as Marie-Jeanne Koffmann is to discover exoplanets. pearance
or Jordi Magraner, whose seriousness To flush out a wary and exclusively
and rigor are beyond question. No offi- nocturnal animal at an altitude of 5000 The mystery surrounding
cial budget is at present made available meters is a greater exploit than sen- these unknown species,
on the subject. Today one comes up ding a probe to Titan ... For it must among which are several
6 7
Why this book ? investigations in Japan for a year. Most is totally unknown. It is to be found also
of the information concerning the mys- in the choice of differentiating between
terious felines of Ecuador come from cryptids. As far as the African hominids
Angel Morant Forés, who sounded out are concerned, for example, it is diffi-
An aide-mémoire at the same time the interest and the re- that region in 1999. We must also men- cult to assert which belong to one spe-
jection provoked by the creature. When tion Michel Ballot’s researches in Africa cies and which to different species. I
Literature concerning cryptozoo- it comes to drawing « cryptids », crea- concerning the mokélé m’bembé (a sort have limited myself to separating those
logy exists and several books already tures described by cryptozoology, one of aquatic dinosaur). whose descriptions showed really dif-
present a compilation on the subject, finds again this « between-the-two » ferent characteristics. It must not be
unfortunately often incomplete. All the phenomenon. One has to draw a real A point of departure forgotten that gorillas and chimpan-
same, an illustrated book allowing the animal but its aspect remains imaginary, zees themselves show shapes, colors
visual discovery of cryptids did not in the absence of precise photographs. This book, which necessarily includes and sizes which vary sufficiently from
exist. Furthermore most of the works There exists, in terms of illustrations, some degree of personal interpreta- one region to another to deserve being
indicate the geographic places corres- a similar case : representations of the tion, does not claim to be the point of differentiated.
ponding to the observations but do not surface of unexplored planets. arrival of scientific knowledge. It only
show their location on a map. Finally, narrates, as closely as possible, what
the subject is rather dense, not to say Where is the proof ? the witnesses, almost always natives
confused. Between the cryptids that to the region, claim to have seen with
resemble each other but have different Many readers will ask, and it is com- their own eyes. As it is a question of ani-
names and those, distinct from them, pletely natural : « Where is the proof of mals which have not yet been discove-
which hide under the same name, the everything that you state ? » Wishing red, the existence of each one requires
situation is often unclear. I wanted to to produce an essential work, an aide- confirmation. This book is therefore a
create a work permitting, at a glance, mémoire on the subject, I have delibera- point of departure, inciting the reader,
to visualise the situation. The drawings, tely left out all references to the sources on the one hand, to find and delve into
the summarised texts and the maps al- from which I quenched my thirst. I have the reference books on the subject
low for this global vision and make this even omitted, mostly, to quote the (most of which have not been repu-
guide-book an aide-mémoire. names of the witnesses and explorers. blished and are to be found on second-
However, the bibliography into which I hand bookstalls or on the Internet) and,
Drawing cryptids, or the between- delved for cryptozoological sources is to on the other hand, to make enquiries in
the-two phenomenon be found at the end of the work, and it the field, searching for the animals in
also contains names of magazines and question. It is clear that, between the
The curiosity inspired by bipedal, hairy websites. Most of the authors who have vision of a native and the realisation of a
hominids probably stems from their looked into the subject have kept the drawing in this work, the possibilities of
ambiguous nature : it is difficult to de- names and addresses of the witnesses, error are numerous : the witness’s own
cide whether they are men or animals. even when they have wished to remain interpretation, collection of his testimo-
When we observe a human being, we anonymous. Bernard Heuvelmans, Ivan ny, translation into different languages,
immediately feel the need to find out if Sanderson, Jean-Jacques Barloy, Mi- second-hand accounts, tendency to
it is a man or a woman. When this is chel Raynal, Christian Le Noël, Jean-Luc exaggerate, confusion of terminology,
not possible (a helmeted motorcyclist, Drevillon and Eric Joye (ABEPAR) are incomplete footprints, artist’s interpre-
for example) we cannot stop wanting to the principal sources to whom most cryp- tation ...
solve the problem so as to retrieve our tozoologists refer, to mention only the
tranquillity. When we are dealing with an French-speaking world. It is important to Personal interpretation
androgyne, exactly between a man and know that the collected documents and
a woman, the individual upsets us. This archives of Bernard Heuvelmans, who This resides firstly in the way of drawing
troubled feeling, provoked by the hairy died in 2001, are deposited at the Can- animals. The more imprecise the des-
man, by the man-animal ambiguity, tonal Museum of Zoology in Lausanne. criptions are, the more important is the
can be, depending on the individual, a I have also been able to obtain informa- reconstitution : a nose has to be drawn
source of pleasure or worry. It explains tion from Grégory Beaussart, who made on the face of a yeti, even if its shape
8 9
1 – Hominids of committing murder, either because they consider that the hairy biped is not an
animal, or, in certain cases, because they believe that it may be a human being in
disguise. The best way to come across one, according to any specialist of the sub-
The yeti is the only hominid known slightly to the public. But recent accounts col- ject, is to arouse its curiosity. A meeting with a wild hominid is seldom unexpected.
lected among indigenous populations show that there exist – still today – several It is, as Marie-Jeanne Koffmann declares, always at the initiative of the wild man.
distinct species of wild hominids, spread out in almost all regions that are difficult In the following pages, the different hominids reflect the descriptions that vary
to access, mainly in mountainous forests. None of the five continents escapes from according to region. It is very difficult to determine whether this diversity is the fact
it. Most of the hominids are hairy. Their sizes vary from 60 cm to 3 meters or more. of really different species and sub-species or whether it merely expresses distor-
In most cases, a correlation exists with prehistoric remains unearthed in the same sions in testimonies stemming from different regions. This is why the large number
region. A number of these bipeds would be survivors of prehistoric species officially of distinct hominids shown, which can be surprising, quite probably does not reflect
considered extinct, like Neandertal man. Entirely unknown species seem also to such a great biodiversity. Until the situation is clearer, it would be imprudent not to
exist. show the whole picture, with its plurality, leaving each person to interpret the situa-
These hominids being difficult to approach, proof of their existence is difficult to tion in his own way.
establish. This incites many people to doubt the accounts, which are nevertheless The illustration on the previous page represents bigfoots, North American homi-
precise and numerous, and agree with each other. Footprints, found regularly, re- nids, building structures with trunks and branches of trees. These structures, in the
main today the most convincing material proof of their presence. Their furtiveness form of crosses, stars and cones, are visible in many North American forests. Some
can be explained by several factors : their rarity, their intelligence allied to an innate could be the result of chance, because of branches and trunks that fall naturally in
suspicion of man (a condition of their survival), their habitually nocturnal habits forests, but others are striking because of their geometric organization and due to
(night vision), the fact that they may bury their dead and, if this is not so, the acidity the fact that the trunks are some distance from the stumps, showing that they have
of the forest’s soil does not conserve dead bodies for very long. As far as hominids been moved. If these structures are artificial, they can only be made by bigfoots,
are concerned, in most cases, huntsmen hesitate to shoot at a hairy man, for fear or huntsmen, the only humans to enter these forests, others being fearful of bears.
However, huntsmen have no reason to amuse themselves by building rough and
useless constructions. On the other hand, the rudimentary aspect of these struc-
tures could correspond to the primitive degree of development of a bigfoot.
No one knows why they assemble these trunks and branches. These collections
seem to us the most obvious means of ascertaining the presence of a bigfoot in the
region. Perhaps this allows them to ascertain for themselves, within the framework
of their moving around, that they are entering a territory that is free, or occupied by
other bigfoots, or previously occupied by them.
10 11
The big yeti its entrails. Finally, it killed a young yak
by hitting it on the forehead, and then
China, tchoutchou-
its mother, whose legs it broke open to
na in Siberia, where
suck out the bone marrow. It did not kill
it is often identified
the shepherd girl.
as a Neandertal). In
the Himalayas, it is
observed only in the
east. This large ter-
ritory expresses the
nomadic character
of the species.
It has colo-
nized America :
crossing the Bering
The little and the big yeti.
Straits when it was
frozen during the last
Cases of albino big yetis
Java), another not well known prehisto-
glacial period (25 000
have been reported. ric giant, was a Homo erectus of 2.50 to
to 14 000 years ago),
3 meters. It is also a good candidate for
it was able to invade
Official study in China : Chinese our big yeti, which would be a prehisto-
America, where we
scientists, who have been very serious- ric man rather than a developed ape.
find it today in the
ly studying the mysterious hairy crea- Strong, intelligent, peace-loving and
form of the myste-
ture since 1994, have collected more protected by a thick coat, is not the yeti
rious bigfoot. Cases
than 2 000 footprints, analysed the hair a greater success than man ?
have been reported
and assert that it is an ape.
even in Great Britain
(particularly in Scot-
land) : could it have
arrived by swim-
Three yetis : three yetis are descri- ming or is it a population dating back to
bed in the country of the sherpas : the the glacial period ? In spite of the varia-
big one (dzu-teh), the little one (meh-teh) tions in the color of the body hair and
and the very little one (teh-lma). The big length of the head hair, the giant obser-
yeti is a colossus reaching 2.50 meters ved in Asia would appear to belong to
or more (footprints of 40 cm or more like a unique species, to be distinguished
a human footprint but larger). It is cove- from a wild man also observed in Asia, In China, under the name of yeren, it
red with brown hair, walks upright, runs not so large, never walking on all fours, is often described with long head hair.
on all fours or upright. Although mainly and whose habits would be slightly less
vegetarian, it eats a few insects and, nocturnal (see page 17). A mysterious identity : the
in the Himalayas, attacks and devours The testimony of a shepherd girl : gigantopithecus was an enormous
livestock. in 1974, in the Himalayas, the guardian prehistoric Asian ape, officially extinct
A vast territory : as opposed to the of a herd of yaks and zoms (hybrid ox- 500 000 years ago, estimated at 3
little yeti, confined to the Himalayas, it yak) was pushed into a torrent by a big meters high and weighing 500 kg. This The extent of the big yeti’s territory can be
is observed everywhere in Asia, even in yeti. It grabbed one of the zoms by its is perhaps what witnesses still come impressive. It is just the reflexion of its no-
Finland (1988) and in Sweden (1985). In horns and broke its neck. It opened up across rounding a corner. The me- madic habits : it is never in all places at the
Asia it is given various names (yeren in its stomach with its hands and devoured ganthropus (a jaw found on the island of same time.
12 13
The little yeti from the forehead to the top of the skull,
making a cock’s crest. The face was
beardless, flatter than a man’s. Feeling
itself watched, it growled and showed
large teeth. It walked with large strides,
leaning slightly forward, its arms han-
ging down.
Analysed hairs : the hairy wild man
sometimes loses some hairs. Studied,
they indicate an unknown species close
to the orang-utan. Analysed feces show
new parasites, proof that they come
Footprint of little yeti (33 cm) from an unknown species. The little yeti
compared with that of a man. is perhaps a sort of developed orang-
utan, somewhere between ape and
man.
14 15
The teh-Ima The wild man of Asia
guide and another wit- is muscular, entirely co-
ness saw a teh-Ima in vered with hair, the legs
the middle of a creek slightly bent. The indivi-
situated in Choyang Ri- dual possesses, contra-
ver Valley in April 1958. ry to the bigfoot, a goitre
Although Russell did not under the neck, which
see the creature him- could come from a vocal
self, he found its traces area reminiscent of that
on more than one occa- of an orang-utan. It has
sion. well-developed eye-
brow arches, sloping
forehead and chin, pos-
sibly pointed ears, no vi-
sible lips (adaptation to
the cold) and above all a
snub nose. Contrary to
the three yetis and the
bigfoot, it does not have
a conic skull (absence
of sagittal crest destined
to receive powerful jaw
muscles). The female,
Footprint of the teh-Ima another difference with
based on a sketch by Ivan the bigfoot, has breasts
Sanderson, guided by Ge- which are not hairy, and
rald Russell. rather long and flabby.
A living Neandertal man ? Obser- She throws them behind her back to run
The dwarf of the Himalayas : the teh- ved in the whole of central Asia, from or feed her baby. She can be as big and
Ima, which means « this little thing », is the Caucasus to Vietnam, this hominid muscular as her companion. The foot is
the smallest of the three yetis. It mea- has all the characteristics of the Nean- larger than a human one, the toes more
sures 0.90 to 1.20 meters, has stooping dertal man. Numerous accounts collec- mobile. The hand possesses a less
shoulders, a pointed head, a sloping ted by Boris Porchnev, Marie-Jeanne opposable thumb than a man’s and the
forehead and greyish-red hairs. It eats Koffmann, Jordi Magraner and others little finger seems longer. The individual
frogs and other small animals. give a precise description of it, which grabs sticks with the five fingers on the
Excrements : during the 1954 Hima- tallies with the frozen corpse found in same side. It has hair reaching down to
layan expedition, Gerald Russell, an 1968 by B. Heuvelmans and Ivan San- its shoulders. Depending on the region,
American naturalist, heard for the first derson, exhibited in a fair in the United anatomic differences appear : varia-
time of this miniature yeti. On that occa- States and originating no doubt in Viet- tions in size, color of body hair or skin,
sion, he was able to examine excreta nam. length of head hair.
presumed to be from this creature. A detailed anatomy : its size varies A revolting smell : a trait sha-
A yeti that feels the cold : Russell from 1.80 to 2.20 meters, the trunk is red between these hairy men and the
concluded from his studies that the teh- The teh-Ima could have the same territory rounded, like a barrel, the arms slightly bigfoots is the revolting smell often des-
Ima lives in the tropical valleys of Nepal. as the little yeti, though living at lower alti- longer than a man’s, an effect coming cribed throughout the world in accounts
He was able to return there in 1958. His tudes. mainly from the larger hands. The body concerning these hominids. This smell,
16 17
compared to that of carrion, appears to One sighting is found in Italy, close to Large presence in the Middle highlands of Mongolia smaller. Most
be the prerogative of the male. the French frontier in 1997, and other Ages : as Christian Le Noël shows in of them seem to be mountain dwellers
Night vision : most of the sightings recent ones in northern Europe. The his book La race oubliée, they seem and adapted to climbing (large and mo-
take place at twilight or at night. Wild latter could concern individuals of ano- to have proliferated in the forests of bile foot), but some of them like reedy
men’s eyes show red reflexions, cha- ther species, of the bigfoot type, coming Europe under the name of « loups-ga- swamps (the Lopata, Volga delta).
racteristic of night vision. from northern Asia. The accounts from rous » or « satyrs » in the Middle Ages.
Hairless babies : the offspring, northern Europe or Italy need to be dis- Thousands of trials of « loups-garous »
occasionally observed in nests made tinguished, following a possible return took place at that time, corresponding
of vegetation, are born without hair and of wild men of the east, favoured by an to a real genocide of this type of man
resemble our babies. increase in wasteland from those from considered as « satanic ». Sculptures
A « rectus » sexual organ : one of Spain, which could concern an isola- are to be found on churches repre-
the characteristics of the males is that ted population, established on the spot senting these wild hairy men, some of
the sexual organ is said to be « rectus », since time immemorial, and passing them showing the famous goitre below
that is to say in a state of permanent unnoticed due to a nocturnal life and a the neck, a detail which could not have
minimum rigidity, as is the case of the hidden habitat in the network of caves. been invented.
Empreinte de l’homme sauvage 27 cm.
Bushmen of the Kalahari, ano- Its behaviour : Marie-Jeanne
ther difference apparently with Koffmann’s work showed that, in the
the bigfoot, who is described as Caucasus, and particularly in the past
having a sexual organ like that of before Stalin, these wild men lived
men (other than the Bushmen). partly at the expense of cultivated land,
Fertile crossbreeding with even having relations with the local
the human being : several people : the latter gave shelter to and
cases have been notified, parti- fed the females and their young during
cularly in 1880, in the Caucasus, the winter in barns. These wild men so-
describing a female captured by metimes steal clothing left out to dry, to
the villagers, named Zana, who dress themselves, do not make fire but
gave birth to four children sired can relight warm cinders. They do not
by the villagers. These children seem to use tools and have little or no
themselves had descendants, language. They look for food at night,
found by Boris Porchnev. It sleep during the day so deeply that it is
seems that, in the case of cross- possible to approach them. Contrary to
breeding, human characteristics the big yeti-bigfoot, they never run on all
are the dominant ones. Another fours. Isolated males are the most often
case, dating from 1920, was no- observed.
ted in the Spanish Pyrenees. Its diet : vegetarian, slightly carnivo- The wild man (in red) is reported in the
mountains which start from the Caucasus (in
Recent presence of Nean- rous, its diet is close to that of the bear,
the west), cross Iran, Afghanistan, touch the
dertal men in Europe : the and forces it to make seasonal migra- Himalayas then go up north, above the Tibe-
most recent accounts concer- tions. tan plateau as far as Mongolia. The pink part
ning hairy men in Europe go Hibernation : without really hiber- corresponds to a smaller and less mountai-
back to the end of the 19th cen- nating, during the winter it falls into a nous sub-species, called almass. The wild
tury in the Alps, where they are slumber, no doubt accompanied by a man also exists in the forests of Vietnam
described as being of a small decrease in its metabolic rate. (south-east on the map) under the name of
nguoi rung, corresponding to the pongoid
size, till 1875 in the French Different types : depending on the man, the body of which was found frozen in
Pyrenees, and much later in regions, the size of the individuals is dif- a fair in the United States by B. Heuvelmans
the Spanish Pyrenees, where ferent. The almasty of the Caucasus is in 1968. Its presence on the Tibetan plateau
sightings continued until 1994. quite big : 2 meters, the almass of the is not well known for lack of information.
18 19
The small, gracile man of India The nittaewo
the night in nests of
branches covered
with a roof of leaves,
or in caves. They
hunted squirrels, tor-
toises, small goats,
lizards and croco-
diles, whose sto-
mach they opened
up with their long «
claws » to devour
the intestines.
Small but ag-
gressive : some-
times they stole
meat from the Ved-
das, which created
hostility between the
two peoples. The
Veddas hunted the
nittaewo with arrows
and the latter disem-
bowelled the slee-
ping Veddas with
their « claws ».
A genocide two
centuries ago :
around 1800, the
Veddas encircled the
The Indian ape-man : in India, a Dwarfs with claws : in the remote last nittaewos in a cavern, where they
small hairy, gracile man is described, mountains of Sri Lanka, small bipedal smoked them to death. Certain crypto-
measuring between 1.25 and 1.55 me- beings are traditionally described, 0.90 zoologists believe that they still exist.
ters, known locally as ape-man. to 1.20 meters tall, believed to have di-
Relationship with men : some of sappeared today. They are covered in
them apparently cohabit with the In- thick red hairs, have short, strong arms,
dians in remote villages, in small, rou- short hands armed with long claws
ghly-built cabins. (to be translated by pointed nails, this
Other bipedal, hairy dwarfs exist description bringing to mind the hairy
dwarfs of Kenya named « X4 » by Jac-
in the regions of south Asia, Oceania,
queline Roumeguère-Eberhardt).
Australia, Japan ... (see further on). It
A special language : they produced
remains to be known how many dif-
a jabbering understood only by the Ved-
ferent species are represented by all
das (local pygmies of about 1.50 meters,
these small hominids which seem to swarthy, with very long, curly hair, who
have spread out in all these islands du- The small, gracile man is generally observed have become very rare in the island). Sri Lanka, an island close to southern India,
ring glaciations permitting crossing on on the Deccan Plateau, but also near Delhi. They lived in small groups, spending used to be called Ceylon.
foot.
20 21
The orang-pendek or sedapa or batûtût big toe and a pointed heel. The batûtût
is nocturnal, runs away from adult men
Origin : certain authors connect
the orang-pendek and the batûtût with
several footprints attribu-
but is attracted to children. It can kill ramapithecus, one of the first apes to
ted to the orang-pendek,
men and take away their liver. walk upright and possess a human jaw,
showing a definitely op-
Food : the batûtût eats, among other which lived 10 million years ago.
posable big toe, contrary
things, river snails.
to all those discovered
at the beginning of the Le ménéhuné
20th century. They mea- Another island dwarf : in the Fiji
sured about 18.5 cm islands and in Hawaii, a hairy dwarf with
long, corresponding to long head hair falling down its back is
an individual of 1.50 me- spoken of, being stocky and round, of
ters height. The position 60 to 90 cm height, the ménéhuné. The
of the big toe remains skin of the face is red, the eyes large
confused. Furthermore, (nocturnal vision ?), the eyebrows long,
the footprints from the the nose wide and flat.
beginning of the 20th cen-
tury show a heel which
is sometimes small, so-
metimes as wide as the
front of the foot.
The batûtût, an orang-
pendek of Borneo : in
the north of Borneo, a
similar individual is des-
cribed. Its long head hair
terminates in a dorsal
mane, like the hairy dwarf of Africa, the
Strong canine teeth : known in
kakundakari, and a hairy dwarf of Cen-
Sumatra to the natives and the Dutch
tral America, the dwendi. Its footprints, The ménéhuné of the Fijian
colonists, the orang-pendek is a very and Hawaiian islands.
discovered in 1970, have an opposable The batûtût of northern Borneo.
shy bipedal dwarf, with short dark brown
to black hairs, of 1.50 to 1.60 meters
height. Its face is brown and without hair,
and it has long black head hair reaching
halfway down its body. It has human-like
eyes but strong canine teeth (a simian
characteristic), the tops of its hands are
slightly hairy. It seldom climbs trees.
A language : it whistles and voca-
lises. It feeds on young shoots, fruit,
molluscs, worms and snakes which it
finds by overturning stones with great Footprint of an orang- The orang-pendek lives in the south of Su-
pendek (12 cm), Interpretation of a matra, in the south-west, in the forests of
strength. It also eats bananas and su- from a sketch by Dr the Barisan mountains perhaps as far as the
cast of a footprint
gar cane. Jacobson in 1915, of an orang-pendek swamps of the south-east (red). The batûtût The ménéhuné is found in the islands of Fiji
An expedition in 2001 : in the north of the Barisan produced in 2001 frequents the north of Borneo, in the region and Hawaii, which poses the question of its
Barisan mountains, researchers found mountains. (18.5 cm). of Sabah (orange). origins.
22 23
Primitive men of Malaysia The proto-pygmy The kapre
of Malaysia
A lan-
guage : accounts
other than that
of 1953 and in
various other re-
gions of Malaysia
describe a lan-
guage like guttu-
ral growls.
Tapioca lo-
vers : they pull up
and consume the
roots in tapioca
plantations.
Hypotheses :
thesehominids,which
feel the need to
wear loincloths In Malacca, at the tip of the Malay- The kapre, or xueren, measures
and seek frien- sian peninsula, the Malays speak of the 2.40 meters and is to be found on the
dly relations with Hantu Sakaï, a population of very primi- island of Luçon (or Luzon), in the Philip-
humans, are tive « proto-pygmies » supposed to live pines. Its size would be similar to that of
Moustached ones : they perhaps less primitive than the other Asian and move around in trees. According to the bigfoot individuals.It is for this rea-
are described as being hairy, hominids, which make it all the more difficult to cryptozoologists, they would be indivi- son that I have shown the female with
with a white skin, sporting long establish their identity. They are perhaps very duals prior to Homo sapiens sapiens round, hairy breasts, like those of the
black head hair and above all primitive humans. such as ourselves, but nevertheless bigfoot rather than the hairless, hanging
a moustache, present in the Chinese primitive men : in China, in the in- fairly close, reminiscent of the « X4 » breasts of the wild man of central Asia.
female and so long in the male terior province of Yunnan, primitive hairy men of described in Africa near to Kilimanjaro, Her foot shows an unopposable, bul-
that it reaches the waist. Up till the same type have been reported. and perhaps the apamandi in the centre bous big toe. The same individual exists
now, no hairy man had ever of the Democratic Republic of the in the east of the island of Samar, under
been seen with a moustache. Congo (see the name of
The size of the individuals, pages 41 and waray-waray,
which is not mentioned, must 45). In a way, and beruang
be as that of humans. Some our direct an- rambai in ge-
descriptions speak only of very cestor. neral in the
hairy limbs. Philippines.
A loincloth made of
bark : dressed in a minute loin-
cloth made of bark, a female
was seen in 1953, accompa-
nied by two males. She emitted
an appalling smell.
An indigenous legend
says that hairy aboriginals used Primitive men have been observed not only in the fo-
to haunt the forests north of rests north of Malacca, but also in the Chinese interior The proto-pygmy, in green, in Malacca, in the Malaysian peninsula, and the kapre, in red,
Malacca. province of Yunnan. in the islands of Luzon and Samar (south-east of Luzon), which belong to the Philippines.
24 25
The hibagon that we are dealing with an abnormal
hominid, particularly shown by the
tis, all of them larger. The only shape of its footprint. All the same, the
hominids of the same size as square foot and its size remind one of
the hibagon are the little yeti, the orang-pendek of Sumatra, present
confined to the Himalayas, and also in the north of Borneo under the
the orang-pendek. name of « batûtût ». The latter also
A square foot : here again, measures from 1.50 to 1.60 meters.
we are surprised at the shape Apart from the difference in hairiness
of its foot. A photo (unfortuna- (the long hair of the orang-pendek
tely hidden partly by the mea- is not mentioned here), it could be a
suring ruler) shows a square case of the same species. The traces
foot close to that of the little found of the orang-pendek are smal-
yeti. Another document men- ler (12 cm) but it could be a case of
tions a foot 30 cm long by individuals that are not adult, and they
27 cm wide. Most traces are show, in some cases, an opposable
smaller (21 cm long). thumb, which creates a problem of
A triangular face : its face identification. It can also be compared
Footprint of a hibagon interpreted from a photo
resembles a triangle, pointing on which a measuring ruler hid the first and se- with the jundadee of Australia (see
downwards, a new characteris- cond toes. Footprint roughly 30 cm long. page 35).
tic, never previously described
for a wild man. It would also a zoo, which has a white mark on its chest, or
have a snub nose, reminding come from old individuals.
one of the wild men of central A repulsive smell : in almost all cases of
Asia. Its head is often repor- close sightings of hominids, the witnesses re-
ted as large compared with ported a stink compared to that of carrion. In
its body. Its face is not flat like 1974, a witness compared the smell of the hiba-
man’s but rather protuberant. gon to that of manure or a septic tank.
Intelligent eyes : this re- A silent hominid : contrary to his bipedal
mark is frequently made by colleagues, this hominid never seems to pro-
witnesses. Again, this is new. duce sounds. The bigfoot of North America does
In the case of wild men of cen- not deny itself long, lugubrious cries and short,
tral Asia, captured in the past rising « woops » !
A limited territory : the hibagon is by the military, they speak of Observations from 1970 to 1982 : it is du-
observed in Japan only in a confined an empty, inexpressive look, animal- ring this period that the sightings were most nu-
region : on the flanks of Mount Hiba like. Hominids, in general, do not seem merous, with a peak in 1974. From 1982, there
near Hiroshima. It is black or a reddish- to shine by the expressiveness of their have apparently been no more sightings.
brown. It possesses a few exceptional look. The man-beast of Kumamoto : legends
characteristics. It sometimes walks on all fours : also exist concerning a « man-beast » in the
A small hominid : neither dwarf a detail which excludes the hypothesis region of Kumamoto, situated a few hundred
nor giant, it measures around 1.50 to of the wild man of central Asia, which, kilometers south-east of Mount Hiba.
1.60 meters, up to 1.80 meters (with a contrary to the large or little yeti, never The hibagon has been observed
Hypotheses : if one sets aside cases which
in the Hibayama Park and seve-
unique case of 2 meters). It is therefore moves on all fours. can be explained by bears that have escaped ral times in 1970 on the slopes
separate from the hairy dwarfs of the It sometimes has some white from zoos, by macaques isolated from their of Mount Hiba, in Japan. The
whole world (smaller), the wild men of hairs : this could be a case of confusion group (although smaller and of a light color) and « man-beast » is observed in the
central Asia and the bigfoots or big ye- with the Asian black bear escaped from wounded (case of a lame hibagon), it seems region of Kumamoto.
26 27
The kappa The oni
From legend to reality : this legend A report in
could be purely imaginary if it did not 1995 : a trail of footprints
contain some realistic aspects : kappas 20 x 40 cm was found in
are often described with a fine down on 1995 in the department
the body and the size of a child. Further- of Kumamoto (southern
more, visual accounts describe them as Japan). The hibagon (see
having the aspect and face of the mon- before) possesses nearly
key, the face red (like the ménéhuné of square feet, the largest
the Fiji islands) and with long head hair. prints of which are not
Other elements appear such as web- longer than 30 cm long by
bed hands and feet, or the fact that they 27 cm wide. It is therefore
leave the mountain in the spring, to in- another hominid, larger,
vade the rivers in the plain and go back whose feet remind one of
to the mountains in the autumn. Certain the American bigfoot or
Japanese claim that it has disappeared the big yeti. It could cor-
due to pollution. respond to the legend of
From the hairy man to the turtle- the « man-beast » of the
man : living in the water, the kappa is region of Kumamoto.
often represented as a man endowed
with a turtle’s shell. It is even occasio-
nally likened to the tiger. The represen-
A Japanese legend : the kappa is tations of the wild man are the oldest,
linked to the water-god Suiko, a cult and those of the turtle-man the most
practised mostly in the north of the recent, taken up by the « mangas ».
main island of Japan. It is represented It would seem that there are no more
as a small being living in water, which observations nowadays. The legend
would be responsible for the drowning used to be widespread throughout the
of children. It would attract children and country. It is particularly concentrated in
horses into the liquid element, to de- the regions where there is a likelihood
vour their liver which it would reach via of children drowning.
A third Japanese hominid : the oni
the anus, as well as the shirikodama, Hypotheses : if one believes that a
has been mentioned since antiquity, in the
an imaginary part of the body supposed real being is behind this legend, it would
literature and in orally transmitted stories.
to be a centre of energy close to the be close to the man of Flores, the small
A colossus : contrary to the two preceding
anus. The kappa would have a hollow prehistoric man one meter tall whose
ones, it is over two meters tall and would be
area at the top of its head which would skeletons dating back 12 000 years
the size of a colossus. It is sometimes descri-
contain the water that is at the origin were found on the island of that name
bed with a loincloth made of tiger-skin and a
of its strength. If this hollow becomes (other identical skeletons were disco-
club, sometimes horns. It is the equivalent of
empty, the kappa loses its power. Its vered on the island of Palau in March
the European ogre. The number of its eyes
two arms are considered to be of one 2008, which, according to carbon 14
varies between one and three... It is some- The legends concerning the
limb : if one is pulled, the other follows. dating, would have lived only 1 410 to kappa are more present in the
times shown as a marine monster.
It adores cucumbers, which it steals 2 890 years ago). These two islands north of the main island of Ja-
A Japanese bigfoot ? This description
from men, to whom it brings secrets are situated to the north of Australia and pan. In the south, traces of the
forces one to think of a bigfoot (or big yeti),
about medicinal plants. therefore not very far from Japan. oni in 1995.
present on the Asiatic continent.
28 29
South-east Asian giants and dwarfs perceive them regularly. Robust dwarfs
of 1.20 m height can also be found in
this island.
Choiseul island : there are appa-
rently as many giants on this island as
on Guadalcanal. The absence of vil-
lages throughout the island is an indica-
tion of their presence.
Santa Isabel island : the giant
population, in the centre-north and the
centre north-east of the country, is smal- The jarang-jiji is reported near Singapore (in
ler than in the two preceding islands. green). The orang-gadang is reported in the
Makira island : a population of ro- mountains of Sumatra (in red).
bust dwarfs 1.20 tall, present also on
Guadalcanal, is all that is to be found
there.
Malaita island : the same giants as
on Guadalcanal are to be found there,
with a different culture, called ramo.
The orang-gigi or garang-jiji of
Thousands of skeletons are apparently
Sumatra : the orang-gadang, the human-size hominid and
the Malaysian peninsula. the orang-pendek. spread around and buried in the depths
of the jungle in a funereal site near
In the Malaysian peninsula, in Suma- 20 cm wide, resemble those of a human Kwara’ae, north of the region of Kwao,
tra and in the Solomon islands, giants being, with a big toe proportionately lar- in the centre of the island.
of 3 meters height have been reported ger than the others. In Sumatra, there is Throughout the Solomon islands,
whose presence can be connected with a third hominid the size of an ordinary the giants are called moo-moo. They
the discovery, in 1941 in Java, of the man. are supposed to have a language not The giants of Guadalcanal are seen all over
remains of a meganthropus, a Homo The island of Guadalcanal very different from the Guadalcanal dia- the island, but mainly in the zone colored in
erectus of 3 meters height, dating from contains a giant population 3 meters lect, itself not very different from that of red.
1.7 million years ago. tall or more. They have long reddish- the other islands.
Malaysian peninsula : the garang- brown head hair, round red eyes, a In New Guinea, large hairy hunters
gigi is a hominid of 3 meters height flattened nose, sloping eyebrows and a are talked about, white-skinned and ar-
seen near to Singapore. It is covered large mouth. There are apparently two med with cudgels.
with brown fleece and has long blond other types, one smaller and less hairy In Tasmania, in the Craddle valley
head hair. Footprints of 45 cm (15 cm and another, even smaller and even (mountainous centre) the makoron
wide) are regularly found, which seems less hairy, albeit larger than a man. koro, a giant with long head hair, is to
short for an individual 3 meters tall. A The natives relate the latter to wild men be found.
sighting report mentions red eyes as living in the jungle. The largest among In the main island of New Caledo-
large as a tennis ball, reminding one of them live in the mountainous rainforests nia, giants are reported to be in the
the description (see further on) of the and can cross the island from east to mountains.
giants of Guadalcanal. It is also called west using the network of caves. Their N.B. the moehau, or maero, of
« yeti of Johor ». footprints are larger than 90 cm, sug- New Zealand, long-haired giants about
Sumatra : the orang-gadang is a gesting an enormous height (logically 5 which the indigenous people, the Mao-
The Solomon Islands, situated to the north-
3 meters tall hominid living in Suma- meters). Going on foot from one village ris, speak in the past tense. They made east of Australia, seem to be inhabited by
tra. It has long head hair but its skin is to another at the foot of Mount Tatuva, stone tools. populations of long-haired giants and other
hairless. Its footprints, 65 cm long and it is possible, according to the locals, to hairy hominids.
30 31
The bipedal ape of gigantopithecus was a sort of
giant gorilla of which only fos-
The yowie Short tibias : this detail
Vietnam silized jaws have been found ; brings it close to Homo erectus
it is not known whether it was which did in effect have tibias
bipedal and it has been esti- proportionately shorter than
mated as being 3 meters tall. Homo sapiens (Neandertal man
If the hypothesis of bigfoot as too, but in a lesser degree).
Homo erectus is accepted, Escape on all fours : this
the bipedal Vietnamese ape capacity to run on all fours is
could be a good candidate for also found in the large Asia-
gigantopithecus. Remains of tic yeti and the bigfoot, which
this enormous anthropoid have doubtless belong to the same
been found in southern China, species, as well as the little yeti,
in the north of India and in another species. On the other
Pakistan. It lived until at least 1 hand, this is never mentioned in
million years ago. connexion with the wild man of
Another bipedal ape ? The central Asia, of Neandertal type.
Vietnamese ape is close to the In the erectus or gigantopithecus
Australian Jimbra (see page debate concerning the big yeti-
34), a biped of 2 to 4 meters bigfoot, the detail of the short
height (the latter measure is pe- tibia would confirm the erectus
rhaps an exaggeration following hypothesis.
an impressive encounter), the Remains of erectus : in the
feet of which have an opposa- Kow Swamp region, skulls of
ble big toe, like apes, and the hybrids of erectus-modern man
African mulahu/kikomba. have been found, dating back
9 000 to 10 000 years, which
Four hairy Australians : Aus- would confirm the erectus hy-
tralia seems to be home to several pothesis.
An ape : in the centre of Vietnam, the indi- hominids : a medium-sized one (the
genous people speak of an enormous bipedal yowie), two large ones and a small one.
ape which, according to them, would be neither The yowie, a hairy man of medium
a man nor an anthropoid ape. Anthropoids are height : aboriginal traditions and colo-
large apes without a tail and with a highly deve- nizers from the end of the IXth century
loped brain such as the gorilla, the chimpanzee, speak of a mountainous hominid of
the orangutan and the gibbon. about 1.70 meters height.
A killer : it is said to have killed a man in 1943, A close encounter of 1912, in New
near Kontum. There was a trial but the archives South Wales, describes this creature
cannot be found today. It is supposed to have precisely : 1.80 m., covered with long
aggressive habits and willingly attacks human russet brown body hair, small head,
beings. human face, canine teeth sticking out
The local name of the animal is « kra-dhan » of the mouth, large deepset eyes, very
or « bêc-bôk ». long arms, long thighs compared with
Origin : the big yeti, which became bigfoot The bipedal ape inhabits the re- short tibias, feet with short metatarsals
when passing into North America, is considered gion of the plateau of Kontum in and long toes. The hominid was stan- The yowie was observed in 1912 in New
to be a gigantopithecus or a Homo erectus. The the centre of Vietnam. ding up but ran away on all fours. South Wales.
32 33
The jimbra The tjangara The jundadee
vations date from 1960
and 1972.
A gigantopithecus ?
This giant gorilla, of which
only the jaws have
been found, which di-
sappeared apparently a
million years ago, was
perhaps bipedal. Can
it be rediscovered in
the jimbra, as well as in
the bipedal ape of Viet-
nam (see page 32) ?
If the big yeti is not a
gigantopithecus but
rather a Homo erectus,
the hypothesis of the
gigantopithecus, more
simian, could account
for these two Austra-
lian and Asiatic bipedal
apes, shown by the op-
possable big toe of their
large foot. A cannabilistic giant : this other An Australian dwarf : at a height of
An impressive size : measure- Australian giant of more than 3 meters’ 1 m to 1,40 m, this little hairy man can
ments from 2 to 4 meters are assigned height is not presented as an anthro- be likened to a young yowie or repre-
to it. One should be sceptical about si- poid, but has curiously the same canna- sent a separate species.
zes of hominoids above 3 meters, be- bilistic habits as the jimbra, eating the Blue fur : such would be the color
cause the unexpected sight of such a indigenous people. It would use a large of the male, interpreted as gray-blue or
giant can impress the witness to the stick. It would have long head hair. bluish-black. The head is elongated, the
point of exaggerating the size of the in- Attack in 1972 : a man who was body has a human appearance, with
dividual. attacked by the hominid saved his life limbs like those of apes (does this mean
An ape’s foot : more than 60 cm by throwing his ice-axe in its face. feet with opposable big toes ?)
long, its feet have a separate big toe, Identification : if this biped is not Tools : tools and rudimentary hun-
that is to say one which sticks out from the same as the jimbra, it could be ting weapons made of stone and wood
the other digits, like that of the gorilla. considered close to the giants of the are attributed to it.
If this impressive foot length is compa- Oceanic islands, which have long head Identification : its size would be that
red proportionately with that of the hu- hair and are sometimes agressive, pos- of the orang-pendek of Sumatra, and it
man, the size of the individual would be sibly being Homo erectus of the type of would be larger than the ménéhuné of
3.36 m. The genital organs are visible. those whose fossils have been found in the Hawaiian and Fijian islands. This
The jimbra is supposed to live in the arid
Cannibalistic customs : tired of Java (estimated at 3 meters tall). little hairy man remains mysterious.
region of the north and west of Australia.
being eaten, the indigenous population The tjangara would live in the arid area of There is also talk of the yuuri, a bipedal
ended up by exterminating the jimbras. the Australian west, and the jundadee in anthropoid ape taller than 1.20 m.
Apparently there are still some. Obser- Queensland.
34 35
Map of Asian bipedal primates
Almass or wild
man of Nean-
Primitive man, dertal type of
human size. medium size.
RUSSIA Big yeti or
dzu-teh 2.60 m.
TU
RK
EY Little yeti
or meh-teh
Wild man of Small
1.50 m to 1.80 m. MONGOLIA Kappa
Neandertal type.
Up to 2.20 m. Batûtût Hibagon
IRAQ
= orang- 1.50 m.
pendek
AN 1.50 m. JAPAN
IRAN NIST
HA
AF
G
N CHINA
I S TA
K
PA
INDIA
LUZON
ISLAND
Japanese Oni and
Small gracile VIETNAM Kapre 2.40 m.
man of India. Small proto-
1.25 to 1.55 m. pygmy.
SRI
LANKA MALACCA
Nittaewo
(perhaps BORNEO
extinct) SUMATRA
RUSSIA 0.90 m
TU
to 1.20 m.
RK
EY KAZAKHSTAN
MONGOLIA
Teh-lma 0.90 to 1.20 m.
IRAQ
JAPAN
IRAN
HIMALAYAS
This map does not entirely
CHINA
cover the range of distri-
INDIA LUZON ISLAND bution of the giants of the Garang-gigi
(PHILIPPINES) south-east, which also oc- 3 m.
VIETNAM
cupy part of the Solomon
Islands, or Australia. Infor-
SRI LANKA
MALACCA mation is lacking regarding Orang-gadang 3m.,
BORNEO
the region of the Tibetan Human-sized hominid
SUMATRA
plateau, north of the Hima- and sedapa, 1.50 m
layas. in Sumatra. Large bipedal ape.
36 37
Comments on the map of bipedal Asian primates teristic which has not been observed in
the big yeti.
• The dwarfs : among the Himalayan
teh-Ima, the small gracile man of India,
Asia, and its islands, is a continent from Vietnam. The nose of the big yeti, the nittaewo, the orang-pendek-ba-
particularly rich in unknown hominids which is doubtless the same species tûtût, the Japanese kappa and the pro-
and, apparently, distinct species. As as the bigfoot, is described as flat, or to-pygmy, there are a large number of
always, certain distinctions can just human-like, but never snub. The big ye- hairy dwarfs, without mentioning the
be regional ones of a single species, ti-bigfoot sometimes runs on all fours, very small ménéhunés of the Fijian
or else stem from lack of precision in which the wild man, with similar pro- and Hawaiian islands. It is not easy to
descriptions varying from one region portions to a Neandertal, never does. make head or tail of this hairy confu-
to another, all encouraged by the multi- Furthermore, it is considerably larger sion. There again, footprints, where
tude of names given to the same crea- (2.60 m. for males, as opposed to 1.80 they exist, are of great help. Those with
ture depending on the local dialect. It is to 2.20 m. for the wild man). Finally, the a pointed heel like the teh-Ima are quite
possible, though, to identify with some penis of the big yeti-bigfoot is descri- different from those with the wide heel
certainty various distinct species. bed as being similar to that of a man, of the orang-pendek. The gracile man
• The little yeti or meh-teh, confined which is not the case of the wild man, of India is perhaps a small-sized wild
to the Himalayas, is really a separate described for the deep-frozen one as man. For the rest, the mystery remains.
species, to be distinguished first of all being spindly and slender, reminiscent The identity of the man of Flores, whose
by the originality of its footprints. In fact, of that of the chimpanzee. Christian Le fossils were recently found on the island
most hominids show feet that are quite Noël concludes in his researches that of the same name (near Java), measu-
close to the human foot. They are dif- the wild man has a penis rectus, a cha- ring only 1 m. in height, has not been
ferentiated by their length, the length- racteristic of certain human populations identified with absolute certainty (Nean-
width relationship, certain muscular such as the Bushmen of South Africa, dertal, erectus).
thicknesses, the fact of always being which gives it a permanent semi-erec- • Bipedal apes : there is that of Vietnam
flat (although a man who always walks tion and a more pointed gland. Finally, and another in Australia (the jimbra).
barefoot possesses a callus that dimi- our big yeti has a skull like an obus, Good candidates for gigantopithecus.
nishes the arch of the foot) and certain witness to a sagittal crest able to sup- • The proto-pygmies and primitive
other characteristics, but they always port strong jaw muscles, like that of the men of Malacca : no doubt still primi-
bring to mind the human foot, apart from gorilla. For the wild man, a flat calf and tive men and perhaps our direct ances-
bipedal anthropoid apes with a clearly a goitre which would act as a vocal bag tors.
opposable thumb. The little yeti has a must be added. With its 2.40 m., the It is interesting to note that the areas
square foot, with two large toes and two kapre of the island of Luzon could be of distribution of the two hominids of
small ones, as well as a fifth atrophied a big yeti. The Japanese oni seems to medium and large size, the wild man
one that is not seen in tracks in the belong to the same species. and the big yeti, do not seem to over-
snow but only in those in mud, which • The giants : whether it is a ques- lap, except in a vaguely defined zone
are clearer. This foot is really unique. It tion of the garang-gigi of Malacca, the of southern China. The area of the wild
is not to be found anywhere else. orang-gadang of Sumatra or the giants man appears to be divided into two :
• The wild man of central Asia. of Oceania, these bipeds of 3 m. height one part in central Asia and the other
• The big yeti or dzu-teh, these two must be Homo erectus like that of a si- in Vietnam and Laos. Some people see
latter species are differentiated by milar height, the fossils of which were the yeren, in south-east China, as a
their footprints, but mainly by anato- found on the island of Java. The big yeti Neandertal, others as a long-haired big
mical details : the wild man is the only being perhaps itself a Homo erectus, it yeti. The situation is confused and co-
one to possess a snub nose, a ridicu- may be a question of geographic varia- habitation between these two species
lous pig-like nose, that is clearly visible tions within the same species. It should raises questions.
on the frozen body found by Bernard not be forgotten, however, that the There remains the unknown one of
Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson in orang-gadang of Sumatra has a larger the Tibetan plateau, for which there is a
the USA in 1968, which probably came big toe than the human being, a charac- lack of information.
38 39
The X1 The X4
The face is human, with, pons, it falls
however, a hairy forehead. It back on meat
can have a thick beard (like stolen from
X4). men. It appears
It clubs buffaloes to to be curious
death with an uprooted about them
shrub, drinks their blood and sometimes,
devours their liver. It is car- while keeping
nivorous and is also a berry- its distance. It
eater. has the reputa-
It speaks but utters rau- tion, however,
cous barks as well. of chasing after
It steals fire from villages women. In Tan-
or sometimes puts it out. zania, where
Identity : erectus or the natives call
australopithecus, Bernard it kapwoopwo,
Heuvelmans likens it to the it supposedly
kikomba, which would be builds huts
none other than a bipedal in the trees.
anthropoid ape ...as well as Its language,
the apamundi, described which is incom-
also as a dwarf : a somewhat prehensible,
confusing situation. apparently
resembles the
dialect of the
Sokoma, of the
Bantu linguistic
Jacqueline Roumeguère-Ebe- group.
rhardt’s five hominids : X1, X2, X3,
X4, X5 are the names she gives to the X4, a huge dwarf : it would not be A mysterious individual : it has human
hominids revealed in her book : Les ho- taller than 1.30 m. It has impressive characteristics (language, huts, skin
minidés non-identifiés d’Afrique (1990). muscles, well-developed torso and cloaks) and yet seems to be archaic. Ac-
Three would seem to be unknown mo- neck, short, powerful arms, and long, cording to Bernard Heuvelmans, it could
dern men. There remain X1 and X4. pointed nails. This description reminds be an ancestor of the Twide pygmies
X1, the Hercules of Kilimanjaro : it one of the nittaewo of Ceylon (Sri Lan- and the Bushmen, the latter perhaps a
measures 1.80 to 2.50 m., is very mus- ka). It has fine body hair. Its head is descendant of Homo habilis ... It can be
cular, has wide shoulders, thick thighs large, with long, curly hair (like X1). The compared to the proto-pygmy of Malay-
and forearms, but is inoffensive. The males are bearded. sia, although the latter is described as
female has pendulous breasts. Cloak, tools, hut and articulated more arboreal.
Its body hair is gray and woolly in language : it digs up roots and tubers,
the adult but reddish.brown or tan in the using a simple stick, sometimes wears
juvenile. a cloak made of skin, its offspring col-
Its hippie-type head hair is long, The 5X are observed in the mountainous lect mushrooms, and it is crazy about
dark and curly. forests surrounding Lake Victoria. honey. Unable to hunt for lack of wea- Map page 40
40 41
The kakundakari The agogwe
Larger than
the kakundakari,
the agogwe or
hairy dwarf of
Mozambique
measures 1.20
m. to perhaps
1.50 m. Rarely
observed, it is
described as
a graceful little
bipedal being
covered with
woolly down.
The color of its
body hair is nor-
mally reddish,
but sometimes
gray or black. Its
skin color would
be yellowish to
A small hairy man : it is bipedal and nets held by hunters, and was hit by a reddish. It has
60 to 90 cm tall. Its face sticks out like a lance which showed whitish blood. long arms. Its
monkey’s, its body is covered with dark A dwarf australopithecus ? The footprints mea-
fur, and it has a kind of mane on the gracile australopithecus was small : sure 12.5 cm in
back of the neck (like the batûtût of nor- 1.20 m. and became extinct, in princi- length.
thern Borneo, page 22) and the dwendi ple, a million years ago. Might a nani- A longer big
of central America, page 61). fied form survive to our day ? toe : the big toe
Manufacture of an object : at night is slightly sepa-
it ventures close to streams, where rated and longer
it fishes for crabs and other shellfish than that of the
which it puts in a bag made of leaves human being. It has been observed in a
attached round its waist. It does not troop of baboons, which would suggest
know how to swim but can cross a river an understanding between the two spe-
along a dead tree. In daytime, it sleeps cies. Like the kakundakari, the agogwe
among the leaves. makes one think of a surviving form of
A tough little fellow : it runs away the gracile australopithecus.
from men but, if confronted, can show
great strength.
Capture of individuals : one was The agogwe lives mainly on the eastern
slopes of the mountains of Mozambique. It
apparently captured in 1957 and kept in was seen from a boat off the coast of this
a cage, where it was seen by several country in 1927. It was also reported in the
hundred people before escaping. Ano- The kakundakari lives to the west of Lakes hills of Dwa Ngombe (1 800 m) 24 km from
ther is supposed to have escaped from Victoria and Tanganyika. the station of Embu during the 1920s.
42 43
The hairy dwarf of the Ivory Coast The apamandi
A long-haired agogwe, the hairy dwarf
agogwe ? In the Ivory of the Ivory Coast, the
coast, « little men of the kakundakari, X4 and the
forest » are talked about, apamandi represent dis-
with red body hair and long tinct species or simple
reddish head hair. They geographical variations
remind one of the agogwes ? It must not be forgotten
of Mozambique, much fur- that there were at least
ther to the East, with hair four species of australo-
as well. Is it the same spe- pithecus, and probably
cies ? more.
Stone industry : stone
tools have been discove-
red in this country.
Habitat : narrow tun-
nels dug out of the cliffs
have also been discove-
red.
Fating’ho : this is the
name of a hairy dwarf of
Senegal and northern Gui-
nea, perhaps the same
species.
20 cm apamandi footprint
from a sketch by Charles
Cordier.
44 45
The spiny primate The dodu
Spiny identity : the A common past : how
spines on the back could to explain the simultaneous
remind one of the dor- presence of this primate in
sal manes of three hairy Cameroon and in Mada-
dwarfs. The batûtût (Bor- gascar ? Madagascar, accor-
neo), the kakundakari (De- ding to B. Heuvelmans, was
mocratic Republic of the separated from Africa only in
Congo), and the dwendi the pliocene, 5 million years
(central America). If these ago. It must not be forgot-
spikes are only misin- ten that the lemurs, primates
terpreted body hairs, we originating in Madagascar
could be dealing with a before its separation from the
kakundakari, which lives in continent, have a claw and not
the same country. The only a nail on the second toe. It is
difference is the brown co- only a step for a lemur to be-
lor of the kakundakari and come a biped and its aptitude
its small size. Our biped to develop claws to be trans-
hunts in groups and has a mitted to the other fingers,
diet that is at least partially thicker and less numerous for
carnivorous. greater efficiency, a step taken
Location : unknown for perhaps by the dodu and the
the moment, but no doubt kalonoro, even if one must
not far from water, because admit that hands and toes with
Witnessed by the army : a sighting of the marine activities of the soldiers, three digits remain an unlikely
has been brought to us by a member which leads one to suppose that it could characteristic.
of a unit of the American Marines, on be an area close to Lake Tanganyika,
a mission in the Democratic Republic thus in the centre of the kakundakari’s
of the Congo between 1997 and 2002, territory. Observation based on an illustra-
who prefers to remain anonymous for tion : by chance, when a team of re-
the moment. searchers seeking the mokélé-mbembé
Bipedal chimpanzees : thirteen (mysterious African dinosaur, page 126)
creatures resembling chimpanzees showed an illustration of the kalonoro,
were seen by the whole team. They hairy biped of Madagascar (see page
moved around upright and were killing 48), to Baka pygmies and Bantus, in the
another animal. forest of Cameroon, they received the
Monkey-porcupines : they were astonishing declaration : « those hairy
between 1.35 and 1.50 m. tall and were dwarfs with three fingers exist here».
of a uniformly gray color. The most This was in November 2000.
surprising feature is the row of spikes Three fingers and three toes : this
covering the back, like those of porcu- is the way the kalonoro of Madagascar
pines. These spikes stood on end when is described. This unexpected charac-
The dodu is to be found somewhere in the
the bipeds became excited. teristic could explain the fact that, in
forests of Cameroon. Those regions that
Video : a three-minute sequence Madagascar, they are supposed to have combine forests, mountains and high rain-
was filmed but unfortunately is a mili- The spiny primate is somewhere in the claws. Having only three fingers allows fall, three conditions which are favorable to
tary secret. Normally, without a leak, we Congo (in green). In red, the territory of the them to be thicker, therefore with stron- hominids, are mostly in the south-west of
would never have known about this fact. kakundakari. ger nails, true claws. the country.
46 47
Kalonoro, trétrétrétré and ombas Comparison of maps of hairy dwarfs
of Madagascar evolution have existed on the island.
and australopithecus fossils in Africa
48 49
The giant of Tano The bili or other anthropoid ape
Kidnapper of women and sical chimpan-
children : a woman who was zees make their
kidnapped was never seen nests in the tree-
again. Children carried off tops.
were found disembowelled, the Numerous
entrails devoured. skulls have been
Cow’s skin : apparently it found : they are
covers its shoulders with a wild one centimeter
cow’s skin when it is cold. larger than those
Food : to calm the animal of the largest
down, the natives put plantain chimpanzees,
and grilled manioc on the trails and one of them
leading to the village. When, in has a sagittal
spite of that, it enters the village crest, like that of
at night, they chase it away by gorillas.
DNA, taken
throwing burning objects at it.
from their excreta,
Hominid or anthropoid
show a close rela-
ape ? Protruding teeth make
tionship to chim-
one think rather of an anthro-
A mysterious anthropoid ape with panzees.
poid ape, but its interest in wo- a gorilla’s body and a chimpanzee’s Their diet is close to that of the
men and its carnivorous diet, a head has been mentioned since 1777 chimpanzee, with more fruit than the
hominid. in the north of the Democratic Republic gorilla’s.
of the Congo, a region where there are Identity : it would be a species or
no gorillas but where there are chim- sub-species of chimpanzee, with go-
panzees. rilla’s behaviour due to its large size.
A first photo in the 1930s shows, in
the diary of a German explorer, a dead
giant chimpanzee, exhibited between
two men.
A second photo in 2000 represents
a very large male chimpanzee killed by
Terror in the depths of the woods :
hunters near the landing strip of Bon-
in the forests of Ghana, the indigenous
da.
people describe an enormous bipedal
A third photo in 2004 : a trip-ca-
anthropoid ape that inspires panicstric- mera put in place by Karl Amman, a
ken fear in them. Its skin, white like that Swiss wildlife photographer, took a pho-
of Europeans, is covered with black body tograph of a large-sized chimpanzee on
hair. It is larger than a human being, its all fours. Its large size is estimated by
arms being as big as a man’s body. Its the smallness of its head. Photos can
head is flat and at least as large as that be viewed on Internet.
of a great ape, whose mouth and pro- Footprints up to 34 cm : gorillas’
truding teeth it possesses. It does not are not larger than 29 cm. The height of
have thumbs on its hands, but they can the individual is estimated at 1.80 m. The bili ape lives in the north of the Demo-
be imagined to be small and scarcely The giant of Tano lives in the region of Tano, Ground nests of branches have cratic Republic of the Congo, about 200 km
opposable. in the forests of central west Ghana. been found in the region, whereas clas- east of the river Ebola.
50 51
The mulahu or kikomba mulahu from seeing well, which would
force it, according to the natives, to go
The black and
gorillas well as he possesses
one, he affirms that this foot-
down on all fours and look between its
legs to see properly.
white anthropoid
print, 30 cm long, is not a go- Tough : finally, the kikomba is stur- ape
rilla’s. dy and the mulahu would have great
Large belly : the mulahu strength.
has an enormous belly. The It walks on its hands : we find here,
kikomba is supposed to be if we give credit to the footprints attri-
vegetarian. It is sufficient to buted to it, a bipedal anthropoid ape,
think of the gorilla’s imposing that is to say an ape walking upright on
abdomen, itself a vegetarian, feet which are still hands. Such bipedal
to realise that the longer intes- anthropoid apes are also described in
tines of vegetarians go along Vietnam (the bipedal ape of Vietnam,
with a voluminous belly. page 32) as well as in Australia (the jim-
Aggressive : an irascible bra, page 34).
temper is attributed to the
mulahu and aggressive beha-
viour to the kikomba. The latter
apparently often walks about
with a stick in its hand.
A bipedal ape : an oppo-
sable big toe, a prognathic face The only trace we have of this an-
(with protruding jaws) attribu- thropoid ape is in Ivan Sanderson’s
ted to the kikomba, make one book « Abominable snowmen : legend
think of an anthropoid ape. The come to life », the information for which
pygmies refer to an ape when he himself drew from a traveller’s book :
Two in one : in the forests of the talking about the mulahu. Hunting we will go.
north-east of the Democratic Repu- A fringe in front of the eyes : the Mention is made in it of an anthropoid
blic of the Congo, two hairy bipeds mulahu has a fringe which falls over its ape with long white body hair which is
are talked about, the mulahu and the eyes. The kikomba shows « thick eye- black on its back.
kikomba. Their descriptions resemble brows ». This fringe would prevent the
each other so closely that it is probably
the same primate. They are differentia-
ted by the partly arboreal habits assig-
ned to the kikomba, the mulahu being
more than 2 meters tall, a height which
makes it difficult to move around in the A watercolour, based on a sketch by
trees. From this, the kikomba would be Charles Cordier, made in 1961, represen-
smaller, but it might be a case of juve- ting the footprint of an unknown anthropoid
niles of the same species. ape 30 cm long.
A footprint with an opposable
thumb was discovered by Charles
Cordier, a professional animal trapper, The mulahu or kikomba and the black and white anthropoid
in 1961 in the north-east of the Demo- The mulahu would adopt this position to see ape would be found, in particular, in the forests of the north-
cratic Republic of the Congo. Knowing clearly. east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
52 53
The pygmy gorilla The small thumbless anthropoid ape
come from the indige-
nous people, who know
it well. Any animal li-
ving in the treetops can
easily remain unpercei-
ved.
A tough dwarf : following on the ving one. One may wonder whether this
giant chimpanzee, mysterious Africa animal still exists today.
Orangutan’s hand
now gives us a pygmy gorilla. Collected fragments : the remains
Clues from Gabon : rare remains of a small anthropoid ape were brought
and skeletons of individuals killed by from Gabon in 1955 by an American.
huntsmen dating from the early 1900s They are exhibited in the museum of
indicate the existence of this small go- Zurich.
rilla.
A mini orangutan : it resembles
1.40 m. : this is the size of the male.
this Asiatic anthropoid ape, in miniatu-
It should be remembered that a clas-
re, with a very high dome-shaped fore-
sical gorilla reaches normally, for the
head, and black body hairs.
male, a height of 1.80 m., even 2 m. for
the mountain gorilla. Absence of thumb : this primate’s
Gray and red : its coat would be hands have no thumb. Which can be
dark gray on the body, and rusty-brown explained by the fact that it is comple-
on the head and shoulders, a bit like the tely arboreal, has a small thumb, not
western gorilla or lowland gorilla, which used for hanging from branches. One
lives in Gabon and has a dark gray coat can imagine a completely atrophied
and rusty-brown hairs on the top of the thumb in this primate.
head. The pygmy gorilla was found in Gabon, at Within a group of 40 individuals
No sighting : apart from the hunts- the mouth of the Ogooué, in the Rembo it moves around in the trees, never co- The small thumbless anthropoid ape lives
men in question, nobody has seen a li- Nkomi delta, south of Fernand-vaz. ming down to the ground. These details somewhere in Gabon.
54 55
Map of bipedal primates, of the dwarf gorilla and of the
giant chimpanzee (bili ape) of Africa
This map aims to make a visual been misinterpreted, until proven to the
summary of the situation in Africa. contrary, and which could be likened to
Firstly, we find 16 species of prima- the kakundakari, although the latter
tes. is much smaller. No doubt descending
Dwarf Bili ape Black and Mulahu or
They can immediately be separated from the australopithecus, these hairy of the 1.80 m. upright white anthro- kikomba
into two groups : supposed anthropoid dwarfs could, in certain cases, such as Ivoiry poid 2 m. X1
Coast 1.80 to
apes and supposed hominids. the X4, be « proto-pygmies », consi- 2.50 m.
Five anthropoid apes : there are dered by some people to be our most
three quadrupedal and two bipedal an- direct ancestors.
thropoid apes. The three quadrupeds As ever, the discovery and examina-
are the pygmy gorilla of Gabon, the tion of footprints remain the surest way
small thumbless anthropoid ape of of determining precisely what these
Gabon and the bili ape (giant chimpan- creatures are. Notice given to those who Dodu SUDAN
zee) of the Democratic Republic of the would like to investigate on the spot.
X4
Congo. The two bipeds are the mulahu/ 1.30 m.
kikomba and the black and white an-
thropoid ape, both of the Democratic IVOIRY
COAST
Republic of the Congo. It is not impos- UGANDA
sible for the black and white anthropoid ON
GHANA E RO
C AM
ape to be just an aging mulahu, with R.D.C
body hair going gray like that of the go- GABON KENYA
rilla.
The hominids can be separated into TANZA- Kakundakari
two groups : the large ones and the NIA 60 to 90 cm
dwarfs.
MOZAMBI-
The large hominids are represen- QUE
ted by the X1 in the forests of Kenya,
Uganda and the Democratic Republic MADAGASCAR
of the Congo, and the giant of Tano in Giant of Tano
Ghana (unless the latter is an anthro- 2.50 m ?
poid ape).
The dwarf hominids are situated
partly in the east and partly in the west.
There are fragile ones like the agogwe Apamandi
and tough ones like the apamandi and Pygmy gorilla 1.20 m ?
1.40 m. upright
the X4. Others have long red hair, like
the dwarfs of the Ivory Coast. There is
the dodu of Cameroon with three digits
on its hands and feet (the most unlikely
detail), which would be the same as
the kalonoro of Madagascar. Finally,
there remains the spiny primate, which
I prefer to consider as a « classical » Australopithecus Small thumbless Spiny primate Chimanimani Agogwe Kalonoro
anthropoid ape, minuscule 1.35 to 1.50 m. dwarf 1.20 to 1.50 m. 1 m.
dwarf with a dorsal mane, which has (its average height was 1.35 m)
56 57
The bigfoot or sasquatch it occupies the same ecological niche farm for fifty years. According to this in-
as the bear the bigfoot became noctur- credible report, bigfoots bury their dead,
nal, thus avoiding hibernate par-
conflicts, unless it tially and have a
wishes to escape language contai-
from modern man. ning some Indian
The red glimmer words, showing
observed in its a relationship
eyes indicates between them in
nocturnal vision. the past. In the
A big Ame- forest, they make
rican yeti ? The constructions by
bigfoot looks like assembling trunks
a brother of the and branches
big Asiatic yeti, resembling signs.
to the extent that They can run on
it is suspected of all fours.
being the same Head of a female bigfoot
according to Patterson’s film
primate, which
would have migrated to America across
the Bering Straits during the glacial
period of 25 000 years ago (survival of
A discreet giant : in Canada and than a man’s, sloping chin and fore- the Asian gigantopithecus or a Homo
the USA, an enormous hairy noctur- head. The whites of its eyes are not vi- erectus).
nal biped plays hide-and-seek. All the sible. The thumb seems less opposable Indian legends : the bigfoot is pre-
same, thousands of sighting reports than a man’s (handprints are rare). sent in Indian and Inuit legends. Certain
accumulate, as well as some photos It eats like a bear : the animal tribes talk of ancient relationships with
and films. Its tracks have, on many oc- seems mostly nomadic, its diet is simi- them. Others consider them to be guar-
casions, been recorded, moulded and lar to a bear’s : it is mostly vegetarian, dians of harmony between man and na-
analysed (including fingerprints). but regularly attacks and eats deer, wild ture.
A flat-footed colossus : it is large : pigs or rodents. An image as proof : in 1967, Ro-
2.30 m. for the female, 2.60 m. for the Tough mummies : a female has ger Patterson filmed a female bigfoot
male. It is heavy : 250 kg for the lady, been seen to break a wild pig’s back (2.30 m. tall and weighing 225 kg), re-
350 kg for the gentleman, even up to with a blow of the fist. Maybe because cognizable by her generous breasts,
450 kg (according to the depth of the in northern California. Surprisingly, she
footprints). Its footprints can be up to 50 made off calmly with large strides and
The bigfoot is observed in all the states of
cm long or more, and are characterized turned back towards the cameraman. Canada and the USA. However, sightings
by the absence of an arch, except for No one has been able to demonstrate are more numerous in the states in red
a very slight one in juveniles. The foot a hoax in this amazing two-minute se- (Rocky Mountains). In Guatemala, the des-
is proportionately larger than a man’s, quence. The film and photos of the hairy cription of the sisemite, which can run on all
even more so in the heel. It resembles giant can be found on Internet. fours, makes one think of the bigfoot : very
a huge man, completely covered with Tamed bigfoots : an American book large, short, thick brown coat, no neck, long
arms, enormous hands and footprints twice
long body hair of variable color but the man, bigfoot, grizzly and black bear which appeared in 2002, 50 years with
as large as a man’s. Piles of branches have
most often brown. Its face seems to be Note the bigfoot’s flat foot, its width and the bigfoot, by Mary A. Green, tells how been found, witness to vain attempts at ma-
that of a prehistoric man : arched eye- thickness of the heel. For the bears, the pre- the grandfather of a young woman, in king a fire. It lives in the mountains of south-
brows, a rather flat nose, face flatter sence of claws and the pointed heel. Tennessee, fed the bigfoots around his west Coban.
58 59
The skunk ape The dwendi of Central America
when the heel bone is short,
to compensate for the lack
of leverage. In this way, the
wild man of the Caucasus
is described with flat cal-
ves, which leaves one to
suppose a longer heel, a
Neandertal feature.
Sunshade : the dwendis
often hold a palm-leaf over
No ape in North
their heads no doubt to pro-
America : the pre-
tect themselves from the
sence of this anthro-
sun. Chimpanzees have
poid ape in North
been seen to do the same
America poses a pro-
thing.
blem. The most likely
Relationship ? Does
hypothesis is that of
a dorsal mane, appearing
individuals having
in hairy dwarfs from conti-
escaped from capti-
nents as distant from each
vity, possibly having
other as Central America,
established themsel-
Africa and Asia, prove a
ves. Considering the
relationship between these
rate of disappearan-
species or is it a question of
ce of orangutans in
converging evolution ?
Borneo and Sumatra,
would they have a
An unknown ape : since 1965, an better chance of survival in Florida ?
ape has been reported in Florida. Si- A dwarf with a dorsal mane : this
ghtings also took place in 1971, 1998 small hairy man, whose name comes
and 2000. from duende (Spanish for elf), measu-
Quadrumanous (four-handed) : res 1.05 to 1.35 m. It is well-proportio-
footprints, found in 1971 in Broward ned, with massive shoulders and fairly
County, show an opposable thumb as long arms. Its face is flat and yellowish.
in great apes. It is at least certain that it Its body hair is brown, short, plentiful
is not a bigfoot. and thick. Its head hair is short, but long
Suspicious photos : in 2000, pho- hairs are observed on the back of the
tos were taken with a flash, showing, neck and the middle of the back. This
behind a garden plant, an ape which characteristic makes one think of the
looked very much like an orangutan, batûtût of Borneo and of the African
with, however, brownish-black body- kakundakari, which has a mane on the
hair rather than red. back of the neck.
It stinks : the term « skunk ape » The four counties where the skunk ape has Bulging calves : This is a detail at- The dwendi hides in the southern part of
means « stinking ape », because of the been shown to be present. Florida is a state tributed to it. It should be remembered Honduras, a mountainous region of Central
smell noticed by some witnesses. in the south-east of the United States. that the calf muscle is that much larger America.
60 61
Hairy dwarfs of South America The vasitri to presume a height of more than two
meters. Bigfoot or large Neandertal like
that of the Caucasus ?
The mapinguary
The oocoomar
more precisely on the southern frontier merous massacres of cattle, killed by
of Venezuela. The height of 1.40 m is gi- pulling out their tongues, are attributed
ven for the male. The female is smaller. to it. A jaguar would not be capable of
The didi : wanders around that, and does not kill in this way.
between the frontiers of Venezuela and
Guyana. It measures 1.50 m. and its
coat is brown or black. It is powerful and
lives on the ground. It builds rough ca-
bins with palms. It is discreet, but when
men appear in large numbers, it throws
lumps of mud and pieces of wood at
their canoes. Its call is a long melan-
choly whistle resembling a human voi-
ce, going from high notes to low ones.
The shiru has been seen in the massif of Co-
Its correct name is ukumarzuupai.
lombia, particularly in the east, the guayazi
near the sources of the rivers Negro and It lives on the Argentinian slopes of the
the Orinico, the didi near the sources of the Andes, where it leaves, up to 4 800 m.,
Marazuni and the river Potard, the dwendi in footprints of 42 cm, which gives one
the south of Honduras.
62 63
Map of American bipedal primates
This map aims at giving a visual sum- similar to bigfoot, is to be found in the
ming-up of the situation in America. mountains south-west of Coban.
First of all, we find seven species The hairy dwarfs : apart from the
of primate. If we except the skunk ape, dwendi of Central America, the others
which is perhaps just an orangutan that are confined to the north of South Ame- CANADA
has escaped from a zoo, it is possible rica. The zones indicated correspond to
to present the hypothesis that all of the the places where sightings have been
dwarfs, including the dwendi, belong to made, but the real zone of occupation is
the same species, with perhaps geogra- no doubt wider, probably corresponding
phical variations. As to the large-sized to the whole of the massif of Guyana
Bigfoot 2.60 m.
individuals, either we are dealing with concerning the east. Generally spea- UNITED STATES
a single species, of the type of bigfoot, king, the preferred habitat of bipedal pri- OF AMERICA
including local differences in size, or mates worldwide remains mountainous
else we can imagine the presence, in forests.
addition to the bigfoots, which we take The vasitri : of human size, lives in
to be Homo erectus, of Neandertals, the north of the Andes. MEXICO
simply based on the idea that there is The oocoomar : there is no reason
no reason why the latter should not also to think that it is not to be found in the HONDURAS Skunk ape
have crossed the Bering Straits, when entire Andes Cordillera. VENEZUELA size of an
GUATEMALA
orangutan
it was passable. Following on from this, The mapinguary : its distribution Dwendi
1.05 to 1.35 m. GUYANA
the Neandertals, who seem to resemble on the plateau of Mato Grosso remains COLOMBIA FRENCH
the wild man of central Asia, would rather vague. GUIANA
have been pushed away, later on, by The skunk ape : has been seen in SURINAM
the bigfoots, being larger, and would Florida. Some maps also show it to the
BRAZIL
have found refuge in South America, north of Florida.
State of Acre Mato Grosso
where we find them in the form of the
plateau
vasitri and the oocoomar. This would
confirm the hypothesis that the Nean-
dertal would have a greater ability to Vasitri
be a mountaineer than the bigfoot. The human size
CHILE
mapinguary, much larger, could be a
bigfoot. Only precise footprints could
enlighten us on this question.
The bigfoot : it is difficult to be pre- ARGENTINA
cise about the area of distribution of the
bigfoot, because this nomadic biped is
found in all the states of Canada and
the United States. However, it is found Dwarfs
more frequently in the rocky mountains, 1.20 to 1.50 m. TIERRA
in the West. It is said that its territory is Oocoomar, 2 m. DEL
almost the same as that of the barred FUEGO
owl, whose area of distribution is shown
in pink.
N.B. a pink point in Central America Mapinguary, 2.60 m.
in Guatemala : the sisemite, apparently Barred owl
64 65
Footprints
66 67
Classification of Bigfoot type Hairy dwarf type
Characteristics : small size, often has
Primitive man type
bipedal hominids Characteristics : females smaller, rounder
than males, breasts round, hairy and firm, head hair ending in a dorsal mane,
Characteristics : presence of a loincloth
or a cape, builds huts, seems close to
This classification aims at collecting males with V-shaped torso, bulkier mus- pointed heels. man.
together the different hominids accor- cles, no goitre, head hair sometimes, can
ding to anatomical criteria. The hairy go on all fours.
dwarfs, less well known, are grouped
by size. Their classification is difficult.
The hominids are shown with their
size in proportion to each other, sym-
bolised by the representative of only
Menehune, Fijian is- Teh-lma of the Hi-
one of the types : the size of the hu- lands, kakundakari malayas, nittaewo
man being is represented by that of of the DRC (Africa), of Sri Lanka,
primitive Malaysian men. 60 to 90 cm. 0.90 to 1.20 m.
Mulahu ou
kikomba, 2 m Orang-pendek,
DRC, giant square foot,
Little yeti, possible oppo- Hibagon,
bipedal ape of square foot, sable thumb, square foot,
Almass, 1.50 m., Orang-gigi, Malaysia, Orang-gadang, 3 m., Jimbra, 3 m, Vietnam size the Himalayas, Sumatra, Japan,
southern Mongolia. giants of Oceania, 3 m. no body hair, Sumatra. Australie unknown. 1.50 to 1.80 m. 1.60 m. 1.50 à 1.80 m.
68 69
2- Felines The big cats
Numerous felines have been observed in Africa, South and Central America,
Australia and even in Great Britain. Only Asia, although rich in mysterious homi-
nids, escapes from enigmatic felines. These felines are, par excellence, specialists
in dissimulation and certain species, such as the panther, show a large capacity
for adaptation to varied environments. It must not be forgotten that, contrary to our
domestic cat, many felines like water and do not hesitate to plunge into it to find
prey or, like the jaguar, to transport them more easily by making them float. Feli-
nes seem to see perfectly well in the dead of night, which makes them even more
difficult to catch. As for many cryptids, we shall discover, in the following pages,
that certain mysterious felines are none other than prehistoric felines which have
survived from the books of prehistory... As far as the cave lion is concerned, this
giant feline, extinct for 10 000 years (do not worry, I am not going to assert that it is
still alive), it is interesting to know that a feline of the same size as this prehistoric
feline exists today, well and truly alive : the liger. The liger is the hybrid born of a lion
and a tigress. The inverse product of a tiger and a lioness is named tigron and its
size is normal. From prehistoric drawings showing cave lions, the mane seems to
be rare or absent, and stripes are sometimes shown. These details would confirm
the hypothesis that cave lions would have been ligers which had become fertile
(normally the product of two different species is sterile). The liger is, in fact, consi-
derably larger than a lion. Its parents do not pass on to it a growth inhibitor gene
and this feline continues to grow throughout its life. The record weight is 467 kg for
an individual born in 1897. It so happens that not all the cave lions whose remains
have been found were of the same size, which can correspond to a species which A cacophony of felines : since
grows permanently. It can be noted, also, that in 2007 a new species of panther the 1930s, mysterious but very varied
was discovered in Borneo, resembling the nebulous panther, but larger and with felines have been regularly described
entirely different fur, showing that the discovery of new felines is still possible in our in Great Britain. Generally, they are of
day and age. Let us mention also the royal cheetah which was a cryptid for a long the size of a panther. Some are black,
time before falling into the domain of zoology the day when individuals were born others a uniform gray, others beige,
spontaneously, in zoos, of normal cheetah parents. This magnificent striped chee- others brown with black stripes, yet
tah with thick fur was just a mutation of the cheetah, appearing from time to time. others striped with gray tips to their
paws and a white forehead, others are
like the panther, others are beige with
black spots and dark hind paws, etc.
Some have been photographed. Sheep
and deer have been found killed.
Hypotheses : pumas and panthers
that had been domesticated during the
1960s were no doubt released in 1978
because of a law prohibiting their being
kept. That could explain the black or
beige animals. Are the others the result
of hybridization ?
The big cats have been seen mainly in the
south-west of Great Britain and in Scotland.
Royal cheetah. The classical cheetah is finely spotted.
70 71
The mngwa or nunda Analysed hairs : the
headquarters of the British
Army analysed the hairs at
the time and concluded that
it was fur and not a mane,
resembling a cat’s coat.
Perhaps a giant golden
cat : the golden African cat
does not normally exceed
1 meter in length without
the tail, and 18 kg. However,
gray « golden cats » exist. A
giant variety of this small fe-
line can therefore be imagi- The golden African cat...
ned. The indigenous people
consider this cat as being
very bloodthirsty and call it
« the leopard’s brother ».
This twilight, or nocturnal,
cat is rare and its habits not
well known.
Perhaps leopard-men :
there exists, in Africa, a sect
A very old legend : on the east are those of the leopard, but are as big whose members disguise
side of Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania, a as those of the largest lions. Its weight themselves as leopards
deep tropical forest exists, certain parts is estimated at 250 kg and its size at and wear steel claws to at-
of which have not been penetrated by 2.50 m. without the tail. tack men and eat their fat.
man for centuries. Here, the indigenous It purrs like a cat : some witnesses These luminaries could be
responsible for certain mur- ... sometimes has a gray spotted coat.
people have been speaking for more have heard it. That would indicate that it
than 800 years of a ferocious feline would be a giant-sized cat. ders.
named the mngwa, which means « the
strange one ».
A legend that kills : in 1922, a first
policeman was killed by a gigantic spot-
ted cat, observed by witnesses, in the
village of Lindi (in Tanzania, almost at
the seaside), and another one two nights
later. Both of them had in their hand a
tuft of gray hairs pulled from the animal.
Since then, the beast has struck many
times in the region. In 1937, a hunts- From left to right : pugmarks of a leopard , of
man who was only wounded stated that a lion and of what could be a mngwa.
he had been attacked by a mngwa.
Larger than a lion : it is described It likes fish : in fact, it attacks The mngwa roams in the tropical forests of For comparison, map of the golden cat. Its
as an enormous cat, as big as a don- fishermen in order to steal the contents the east coast of Tanzania and Kenya, as far distribution corresponds to zones of dense
key, with stripes or spots. Its pugmarks of their nets. as southern Somalia. rainforest.
72 73
The aquatic saber-toothed feline The mountainous saber-toothed feline
Hidden in the swamps : in central would even attack elephants. It would Second saber-toothed feline : in
Africa and perhaps even in the west, only attack these animals to defend its Chad and the Sudan, another species
the natives describe an aquatic feline territory, because its fangs would make is described, larger than a lion (up to
whose upper canine teeth extend a con- it difficult for it to eat them. It would con- 1.50 m at the withers against 1.35 m for
siderable way out of its mouth. It would tent itself with lapping up their blood. the lion), with a dark russet coat, with
be larger than a leopard. Prehistoric survival : This ani- vertical whitish-yellow stripes. Its tail is
Striped like a serval : its coat is yel- mal makes one think of saber-toothed short and bushy. Black individuals have
low-orange, like that of the leopard, and felines of the past, particularly the me- also been reported.
marked by horizontal lined patches : its gantereon, which had the size and cor- The art of erasing its tracks : long
tail is short and bushy. Black individuals pulence of a jaguar. hairs underneath its paws are often
exist (melanism). Usefulness of saber teeth : these described and would allow the animal
Black individuals have been reported.
Webbed paws : a witness talks teeth could serve to keep hold against to wipe out its tracks.
of « water wings », no doubt webbed the movement of rivers, to clamber Plantigrade : pawprints « as long as Ecological niche : a plantigrade fe-
paws, or flippers, a standard adaptation along slippery banks and to scrape the those of a boy but with claws » seem to line is less agile than the lion and could
among mammals, as witnessed by its soil to find molluscs, turtles or other ani- confirm the hypothesis of a plantigrade not compete with it for its territory. Fur-
large footprints, from which its size mi- mals. feline, like the homotherium, prehistoric thermore, the two species, handicap-
ght have been exaggerated. Ecological niche : this feline ap- saber-toothed feline of which it could be ped by giant fangs, which prevent them
Killer of elephants and hippopo- pears to have chosen an aquatic ecolo- a descendant. As for the preceding one, from eating rapidly, would see their prey
tami : hippopotami have been found gical niche to avoid competition with the the short tail is an anatomic detail cha- stolen by carrion feeders if they lived in
lacerated and torn to pieces, with very lion and the leopard. racteristic of prehistoric saber-toothed the plains like the lion. In the mountains,
deep wounds, but not eaten. This feline Map page 76 felines. our latter feline is supposed to carry off
74 75
its prey (on its back !) into caves, away
from carrion feeders. In the caves, it
englobing the rainforest. There are also
reported sightings of a « water lion » at
The dingonek Tana river. A witness
could leave its prey to rot in order to eat the frontier of Mali, Senegal and Gui- saw one without tusks.
it more easily. nea. Finally, a mysterious « giant pan- Its tracks are as large
ther » lives in the Ivory Coast, which as those of a hippopo-
could well be the aquatic form of our tamus (20 cm diameter,
feline. those of a lion being
The mountainous form is present in 15 cm). Its length is
Chad (north-west and south-east), in about 4.50 m or more.
the south of the Sudan and in the south- Hypotheses : one of
east of Ethiopia, thus in mountains the attempts at an ex-
which can be relatively dry. planation would be the
The tooth from Addis Ababa : dis- confusion, with scales,
covered in 1904 in Ethiopia (see the of damp fur in tufts of an
unknown elephant, page 94) it is too aquatic saber-toothed
long (70 cm along the curve) to belong feline (in spite of the
It would carry its prey on its back.
to a feline whose canines are not longer longer tail). Scaly mam-
than 20 cm. mals do exist (arma-
Sources : the information concer- dillos, pangolins).
An animal of the night : it is strictly ning this feline come from the last book Another hypothesis
nocturnal, its eyes shine at night, indi- of Bernard Heuvelmans, Les félins would be confusion with
cating night vision. A species of moth is encore inconnus d’Afrique, Editions de a giant pangolin, a scaly
supposed to follow its tracks. L’œil du sphinx, available now, and from mammal having, howe-
Usefulness of saber teeth : this the researches of Christian Le Noël, ver, no teeth, a long
mountainous feline’s canines could former hunter’s guide in Africa and now head and being no lar-
help it to unearth rodents by digging in cryptozoologist, in the field. ger than 1.80 m.
the soil. It has, however, been seen to A mystery with paws : the dingo-
capture large antelopes, but never buf- nek is one of the most difficult of the
faloes. A Youlou (a tribe of central Afri- cryptids to place. Known to the Masais,
ca) and his father, who had just killed the Lumbayas and the Kikuyus, at the
a horse-antelope (300 kg), saw one of frontier between Kenya and Tanzania,
these felines come out of the bush and this animal has only been observed
take it away effortlessly. This was in by two western witnesses. It is descri-
1940. It never attacks men, contrary to bed as a saber-toothed feline, covered
its aquatic counterpart. with scales ! Spotted like a leopard, it
A mane ? The mane, in the case of has a head as big as a lion, a body in
the two felines, is rarely mentioned. It is the shape of a hippopotamus with a
perhaps just an adjunct stemming from long rudder-like tail which gives slow
their names which mean in all langua- whiplashes in the water ... According to
ges « water lion » (sometimes « water the Masais, which call it ol-umaina, the
panther ») or « mountain lion ». head is that of a dog, with small ears
Distribution : as far as the aqua- like the horns of a striking viper, the
tic form is concerned, it is found in the paws are short and have strong claws,
upper reaches of the rivers which are The territory of the saber-toothed felines ac- the neck is short. The Kikuyus talk of an The dingonek has been seen in the rivers
tributaries of the Congo, therefore in cording to the local traditions and reported animal related to the crocodile, named which flow into Lake Victoria, at the frontier
the upper Congo basin, and in Gabon, sightings that have been collected. ndamathia, in the upper reaches of the of Kenya and Tanzania.
76 77
The ndalawo The forest lion
An examined skin : this mysterious ted, perhaps, by group hunting, to lar- In the mountainous forests around A fleeing lion : contrary to the plains
feline has everything of a panther, as ger game, confirming its reputation of the Congo basin, a small forest lion is lion which, certain of its strength, rarely
witnessed by the skin of an animal that uncommon ruse and ferociousness. talked about, generally spotted like flees, the marozi dashes away at the
had been killed. But the black back mel- a leopard. It is in Kenya, where it is slightest noise to take cover.
ted into a « hyena gray » on the flanks. known as the marozi, that it is best A bearded lion ? In Rwanda and
Rare patches were visible at the extre- described : darker than a leopard, with Cameroon, it has a long beard.
mities and around the lower jaw. patches meeting in a dark zone in the Other forest lions :
Group attacks : its behavior, on the middle of its back, the male has whis- - the foulempou of the congo ;
other hand, is not that of a panther, as kers, pawprints like those of a small lion - the bakanga of the Central African
it hunts in groups of three or four indivi- and a size midway between that of the Republic : a russet, patched, forest lion,
duals. It is also reputed to attack men. leopard and the lion. low on its paws with a bark ;
Laughter : the ndalawo emits a sort Material proof : it is also in Kenya - the ikimizi of the Rwandan volcanoes :
of laugh when hunting, another detail that skins and the skull of an adult ani- a gray, spotted and bearded forest lion ;
differentiating it from the panther. mal identical to that of a small-sized - the ruturargo : half lion, half leopard
Black panther or new species ? lion, have been examined. (Ugandan province of Kigezi adjoining
The ndalawo differs from the black pan- A high-altitude living lion : in Ke- the mountains of Rwanda);
ther by its gray flanks, hunting in groups nya, it lives at 3000 to 3500 m in the - the uruturangwe, from another sector
and its laugh. One can therefore range of hagenias (trees), above the of the Rwandan mountains : it is similar
conceive of a new species of panther. forest of cedars and bamboos. to the leopard without being one ;
The panther being present almost The ndalawo is observed in the province of It lives in couples : behavior reminis- - the bung-bung of Cameroon : an
everywhere in Africa, the ndalawo, to West Nile, in the north-west of Uganda, in a cent of that of the Asian lion, more forest- unspotted forest lion with a long black
avoid competing with it, became adap- rather mountainous region. living and smaller than the African one. beard.
78 79
Hypotheses : this small forest lion,
rare and discreet, is doubtless a sub-
The damasia The n’goli
species of lion, better camouflaged in During the 1940s, an Englishman
the forest by its small size and its rings. killed a very dark leopard, in the Aber-
It could also be an entirely separate dare mountains, in Kenya. The native
species, ancestor of the lion and the Kikuyus stated that it was a damasia,
leopard, or a descendant of the lion. as different from the leopard as the lion
Another hypothesis would be a hybrid is from the marozi. There again, is it a
lion-leopard having become fertile. new species of leopard, a sub-species
The resemblance between this hybrid, or a semi-melanic form ?
known to zoos, and the
skin of the marozi is
striking, but the latter
seems darker, particu-
larly on the back, and
the marks seem larger.
These lions are, moreo-
ver, often described as
low on their paws (adap-
tation to the forest).
The damasia
80 81
The onza The South American mountainous
saber-toothed feline
Aztec allusions : the first conquis- is therefore of the size of a puma, sli-
tadores heard of the onza in Mexico. Its ghtly smaller than a cheetah, but very
Aztec name was apparently cuitlamiztli. fine and light. Its mitochondrial DNA Symmetry with Africa : in South planted everywhere by placental mam-
First carcass : in 1938, a big-game does not differ from that of the puma, of America, there is talk of two saber-too- mals, except in Australia (insular isola-
hunter killed one, but it was not known which it would be a sub-species. A sort thed felines, one mountainous and the tion). There remain nevertheless a few
to scientists. of Mexican cheetah. other aquatic, as in Africa. The moun- in South America. The marsupial saber-
A cheetah version of the puma : it tain version is striped, as in Africa (the toothed « feline » has no relationship
resembles the puma but is thinner and same colors ?), but its size would be in- to the others and is a fine example of
has longer paws. It would be more ag- ferior to that of the jaguar. convergent evolution.
gressive than the puma. Ancient felines : there are two hy-
Skulls exist in museums and pri- potheses to explain its origin : the sur-
vate collections. They do not resemble vival of a saber-toothed smilodon, of
those of the giant prehistoric cheetah of which three species existed in America,
the Pleistocene epoch, of the size of a one of them larger than a lion. And that
lion : Acyonix trumani, or Miracinonyx of thylacosmilus, a marsupial version
trumani. It is therefore not a question of of the saber-toothed feline. It should be
the survival of a prehistoric feline. remembered that the marsupials, mam-
A second carcass : in 1986, a bree- mals with pockets (kangaroos ...), are
der killed an onza and kept it deep-fro- an ancestral form of mammals which
zen in a fishery. Its photo can be found appeared in South America, having
The onza lives in the state of Sinaloa,
on Internet. It is a female of 27 kg, 1.13 between the Pacific coast and the Sierra invaded North America, Eurasia then This feline hides in the mountainous forests
m long, 73 cm of which is the tail. It Madre chain of mountains, in Mexico. Australia via the Antarctic. It was sup- of Colombia and Ecuador.
82 83
The South American aquatic The water tiger or entaieva-yawa
saber-toothed feline
A large feline : 3 meters long and 1 An explorer in Ecuador : most of a distance, as the lack of precision re-
meter wide, our saber-toothed feline is the information concerning the mys- garding its color indicates ?
more like a walrus than a cat. Its width terious felines of Ecuador come to us
may be due to a layer of fat destined to from Angel Morant Forés, who investi-
protect it from the cold. gated this region in 1999.
Drooping ears : a rare detail among No saber teeth mentioned for this
wildlife. It is described as tan, with a aquatic feline, which, with its bushy tail
whitish chest, and a whitish stripe in the or « cow-tail », is reminiscent of the Afri-
middle of the back, 10 to 15 cm wide. can saber-toothed felines.
Clawed paws : similar to the hind Unknown color : sometimes des-
paws of the anteater, its paws would cribed as white, black, brown or russet,
have non-retractile claws. Perhaps an the color of this animal remains vague.
adaptation to the slippery soil of rivers. Webbed paws : it has paws « like
Attack on a child : in 1962, a se- those of a duck » and leaves tracks
ven-year-old child was taken away and « like those of the otter, but without
eaten in the river Maroni, in French claws ». They are short, and the palm is
Guiana (Guyane), according to the na- flat « like that of the bear ». Would it be
tives, by an animal of this type. plantigrade like certain saber-toothed
Vernacular names : maïpolona, This feline has been observed in the Maroni,
felines ?
popoke and mamadillo for French Approuague and Oyapock rivers in French Might this feline be the same as the
Guiana, iemisch for Patagonia. Guiana and in Patagonia. aquatic saber-toothed feline, seen from The water tiger lives in Ecuador.
84 85
The shiashia-yawa The rainbow tiger or tshenkutshen
A small white jaguar : of a size midway between the ocelot and the jaguar,
this feline of about 1.30 m (without the tail) is white and covered with spots that are
closer together than those of the jaguar. Observed by the Indians in Ecuador.
The tiger-tapir is a uniform dark gray feline measuring about 2 m (without the
tail) and 1.30 at the shoulder, with enormous paws. This animal has been seen The shiashia, the tiger-tapir and the rainbow
coming out of a river, in Ecuador. tiger live in Ecuador.
86 87
Other mysterious South American The marsupial tiger
felines
88 89
The warrigal Australian black panthers and pumas
90 91
3- Other non-marine mammals Unknown The adjule
I have separated the marine environment from the terrestrial environment but Sirenians
many unknown non-marine mammals live in fresh water, at any rate in swamps.
Only the Loch Ness monster is placed among marine mammals because this long-
necked seal appears to frequent salt water more often. After the forests, particu-
larly mountainous ones, swamps represent an ideal environment to camouflage all
kinds of unknown beasts. Some of them are really impenetrable and covered with
tall grasses making it impossible even for aeroplanes to surprise their inhabitants
from the sky.
92 93
The unknown elephant Other hypotheses : if one forgets
about the structure of its tooth which
of the feline, perhaps still present in the
same regions.
makes one think of a small elephant, it The dinotherium, a prehistoric ele-
is possible to envisage the hypothesis phant the size of the African elephant,
of the survival of a giant prehistoric had tusks that were curved downwards,
warthog, which would be more than 2 but it is too large.
m long and whose tusks would corres-
pond with the size of our piece from the
marketplace.
Astrapothérium
94 95
The small hairy elephant The monster of Lake Tanganyika
A single witness : we know of only water during the day and only coming
one direct witness of this animal, but the out at night, having the effect, like the Only one western witness : in
natives know it and call it « water ele- mokélé m’bembé (see page 126) of irri- 1914 a German doctor observed in
phant ». Our witness observed a herd tating cryptozoologists. Lake Tanganyika an enormous snake,
of them in 1907 and described them moving swiftly making vertical curves.
as small elephants with a shortened It is a mammal : in fact, a snake
trunk and short ears, apparently without swimming vertically can only be a
tusks. They are covered with russet mammal. Reptiles always twist their
hairs. spine horizontally. A stiff bright brown
Aquatic elephants : they spend the fleece covering the animal confirms
day in the water where only the trunk this hypothesis. Its head, with a pointed
and the top of the head are above wa- muzzle, showed two small fins close to
ter. They come to land only at night. the head. It did not have paws nor real
A piece of skin : a settler was able fins.
to exhibit a piece of skin resembling An enormous animal : six rings of
that of an ordinary elephant but covered 3 m diameter would suppose, including
with russet hairs, belonging, according the spaces between them, an animal
to the natives, to a « river elephant » measuring about 35 meters.
with the same habits as the hippopota- Known to the natives : they say
mus. Our little elephant lives in Lake Mai-Ndombe,
that they have never seen it but they
Game of hide-and-seek : our little formerly Lake Leopold II (renamed in 1972), know of it. It would appear every five
elephant adds to the list of animals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ex years. The monster was seen in Lake Tanganyika,
which have the habit of hiding in the Belgian Congo, ex Zaïre). on the western frontier of Tanzania.
96 97
The unknown rhinoceros of Gabon The dwarf rhinoceros of Liberia
the dwarf hippopotamus is present in the region of the Congo and Gabon,
found, could have its origins in a which eliminates the hypothesis of a dwarf rhino-
possible isolation of this region ceros in this sector.
Apparent absence of the rhino- vered by gray plates separated by light during the Eocene epoch ( 56
ceros in western regions of Africa : grooves, placed like joints or gussets. to 34 mya), a period when the
there would, however, be no reason for He speaks of a huge head, small ears sea level was higher. Marooned
the rhinoceros to be absent from these and a pig’s tail. on an island, the rhinoceroses
regions. Like the Asiatic rhinoceroses : would have decreased in size
Native sightings : in Liberia, the these separated plates on the body due to the classic phenomenon
Mandingoes declare that a rhinoceros exist in the two Asiatic rhinoceroses of of insular dwarfing. Because of
exists in their lands, which they call Java and Sumatra, which are forest rhi- its dwarfism and its forest life, it
kowuru. In the same country, the Krus noceroses. would have escaped our notice.
talk of a dwarf rhinoceros living in a part Two unknown rhinoceroses ? The Confusion with the moké-
of the mountain. Between Lake Chad hunter’s description is not of a dwarf lé m’bembé : in the Congo, the
and the Upper Niger, a rhinoceros is rhinoceros. It is therefore possible to forest rhinoceros is sometimes
also reported by the Arabs, the Mandin- conceive of two unknown species in described with a heavy tail
goes and the Hausas. West Africa : a dwarf one in Liberia and dragging along on the ground,
Visual sighting : in the forests of a forest one in the region of Gabon. The which makes one think of the
Gabon, a French hunter observed, in latter would also be reported at the sou- mysterious dinosaur with which
1931 or 1932, a rhinoceros which he thern limit of Cameroon and to the north it is perhaps confused. For na-
described as an extraordinary animal, of the Congo. tives to confuse two animals,
very long, possessing two very high the latter must be particularly Map of existing and unknown rhinoceroses. The dwarf
nasal horns, of the same length and Heuvelmans’ hypothesis : a dwarf rare. However this may be, it is hippopotamus is mentioned to compare its distribution
curved towards each other. It was co- rhinoceros in Liberia, in a region where a case of a large-sized species, with that of the dwarf rhinoceros.
98 99
The nandi bear
Hypothesis of a giant baboon. Hypothesis of the old blackened ratel (honey badger).
No bears in Africa : although there Bipedal baboon ? Another wit- Heuvelmans’ two hypotheses : this
have never been bears in Africa, except ness, in Kenya, speaks of an enormous is why Bernard Heuvelmans suggests
formerly in Morocco, all the ancient baboon sometimes walking upright. two hypotheses to explain the nandi
accounts in Africa talk of the bear. Long claws : others describe long bear : the first is that of a giant baboon.
The first sighting of the nandi bear, the claws, very thick front paws, and consi- A prehistoric giant baboon existed, the
name given to this animal by the people derable ferociousness. It would attack a simopithecus. Furthermore, in 1980, an
in whose land it appears in particular, man as soon as it saw him. expedition to Kenya observed a troop
dates from 1905, in Uganda. The dark But still … A back sloping straight of about fifty giant baboons (1.50 m) on
beast measured, seated, 1.50 m. Its down, thick dark brown fur, a long black the crater of an extinct volcano, Mount
movements were awkward. Its fur was tail … Susua. The other hypothesis is that of
thick in front and smoother at the back. Two different animals : as can be an old ratel. In effect, this kind of Afri-
The head was long and thin, the ears seen, the descriptions are often contra- can badger, black with a gray back,
very small, the tail short or non-existent. dictory and appear to correspond to becomes darker with age and tends to
A lion with a black mane : another two different animals. They do, howe- become carnivorous and aggressive.
sighting talks of the look of a hyena, the ver, share plantigrade characteristics Some reach 1.10 m (short tail included). The countries concerned with the nandi
size of a lion, tan-colored with a black with the bear, walking with the heel on bear. Mount Susua, where giant baboons
were seen, a region where known species
mane, a wide snout, a short neck, ab- the ground, a characteristic visible on of baboon are absent. The ratel is present
sence of a tail for an animal sometimes the tracks of the hind foot, rarely found in nearly all Africa, except the Sahara, North
standing up on its hind paws… among mammals. and South Africa.
100 101
The thylacine The bunyip
A marsupial wolf : this pleasant car- Tracks : this nocturnal animal can A marsupial seal : living in was observed in a reservoir in South-
nivore is the equivalent of a small wolf be recognized by its tracks of which the freshwater inland in Australia, it has east Australia. It was no doubt a bunyip
among the marsupial mammals which, claws are visible (four toes at the back, a good chance of being a marsupial. whose fins were confused with ears…
let us not forget, evolved separately. sometimes five visible in front). It walks However, it is described as a seal, See the waïtoreke of New Zealand,
Officially disappeared : it is sup- in a straight line. which would be a further example of page 104, which reminds one of the
posed not to exist any more in Austra- convergent evolution. A large round bunyip.
lia since the arrival of the dingoes, but head, minute ears, a long neck, shiny
would have survived in Tasmania until black coat, thick mane and two small
1824. The last individual died in a zoo fins make up a swimmer whose speed
in 1936. Its extinction was officially an- is reckoned at 50 km/h. It would mea-
nounced. sure between 1.20 m and 1.35 m.
It is still seen … in Tasmania (in A calf-like skull : the skull of an
the north of the island), but also in Aus- individual captured by the aborigines
tralia where the aborigines are in the in 1846 and examined by zoologists
awkward habit of seeing it regularly … before being lost, was reminiscent of a
In fact, this animal, which is perfectly calf or an ill-formed foal.
identied (photos and films dating from Another hypothesis : in spite of
before its official disappearance exist) being reported in zones inaccessible
has left zoology to enter the domain of from the sea, the bunyip could be just a
cryptozoology. seal or a sea-lion coming from the sea
Variations : in the west of Australia, and arriving inland by way of rivers. Map of the river basins of Australia and
unstriped and entirely black thylacines The main places of sightings of the thylacine Finally, an aquatic animal swimming Tasmania, possible zones of sighting of the
have been observed. up till 2008. with the help of two long fur-covered ears bunyip.
102 103
The waïtoreke The gazeka
A giant tapir : in New Guinea, a Bri- above, which could explain the allusion
A marsupial otter : it would re- tish expedition observed, in 1910, an to a giant rabbit.
semble a seal or an otter, and be the animal resembling a very large tapir at Or a Palorchestes azael, which is
size of a small badger. Its pawprints grips with a group of Papuan pygmies. another giant marsupial (2.50 m long)
are like those of the European otter, but It was black and white with stripes The and plantigrade, dating from the same
are smaller. Its fur is brown and shiny. It Papuans call it gazeka. There exist epoch and possessing a small trunk.
lives in mountainous rivers and lakes in other, older, sighting reports, one of
the South Island of New Zealand. them mentioning a horse’s tail and clo-
A zoological enigma : separated ven feet.
from Australia during the Jurassic pe- Perhaps in Australia : gold-diggers
riod, therefore before the arrival of mar- have reported the existence of giant
supial mammals, New Zealand cannot rabbits in the deserts of the central de-
logically contain mammals. pression. Indigenous traditions of this
Hypotheses : an otter having arri- region mention an animal known in the
ved by the sea, a mammal of the mono- past, the kadimara, whose description
treme group which would be older than makes one think of the diprotodon.
previously thought, or a mammal intro- Survival of the diprotodon ? This
duced by the Maoris on arrival on the enormous plantigrade marsupial, 3 me-
island (towards the XIIth century). ters long and 2 meters high at the wit-
hers is supposed to have disappeared
The waïtoreke lives in fresh water in New 50 000 years ago. It possessed one pair Locations of the gazeka (New Guinea) and
Zealand’s South Island. of incisors below and one to three pairs the kadimara (Australia).
104 105
The giant sloth case at present for the front legs of the
anteater (of the same family). These
Geographical distribution : the consi-
derable geographical distance between
ved a small mammal prehistoric giant terrestrial sloths were the two sighting reports allows for the
with reddish-gray fur able, in spite of their weight, to stand up possibility that the animal exists in nu-
which was bullet- on their hind legs, counterbalanced by merous other sectors, perhaps throu-
proof, perhaps also their thick tail, like bipedal dinosaurs. ghout the whole of the tropical forest.
due to a skin encrus-
ted with small bones.
It resembled a pan-
golin (scaly mammal
absent from South
America).
Indigenous si-
ghting reports : the
Tehuelche Indians
describe a solid noc-
turnal animal, as big
as an ox, with short
paws and enormous
claws curved in the
shape of grappling
irons, with thick fur.
It digs large burrows An elephant with twisted tusks lived in South America until about 400 A.D.
to sleep in during
the day. According to There also existed mylodontes, resem-
some, it would have bling the giant sloth, but as large as an
amphibian habits. ox and with a long tail.
And, above all, it is No large mammals in South Ame-
insensitive to arrows rica : South American mammals are
and bullets. quite small, the largest known being
A strange skin : in 1895, in the Other indigenous reports : the the jaguar. However, an elephant with
Eberhardt cave (from the name of its Shuar Indians, who live in the Ama- twisted tusks existed in South America
discoverer), in Chile, near the Straits of zonian regions of Ecuador, talk of the until 400 A.D., exterminated by man.
Magellan, a leather skin covered with ujea, the description of which calls to Our giant sloth would be the largest
reddish hairs and encrusted with small mind that of a giant terrestrial sloth or a mammal living on this continent in our
bones was found. It seemed to be fresh bear. day. The sighting report from the pro-
and still bore muscles and tendons. Hypotheses : a certain number of vince of Santa Cruz speaks however of
This skin had obviously been rolled giant terrestrial sloths lived during the a small mammal. It could be a case of a
up by human hands. Also found were Pleistocene epoch (3 million to 10 000 young one.
enormous feces containing chewed years ago) in America, in particular the Vegetarians : these enormous
hay. The Indians would have kept this megatherium, which was 6 m long and animals, placid and doubtless slow,
giant sloth captive in this cave and weighed 3 tonnes, the remains of which were vegetarians. They stood up on
would have killed it for its meat. are found in Patagonia, Bolivia and their hind legs to reach inaccessible
It is bullet-proof : at the same pe- Peru. These terrestrial sloths walked on branches, their long claws serving as Sighting reports of the giant terrestrial sloth.
riod, in the province of Santa Cruz, in their joints, the feet turned inwards, to combs to pick the fruit from the trees, Nothing indicates that it would be absent
southern Patagonia, travellers obser- protect their claws from wear, as is the like bears « combing » blueberries. from the immense Amazonian forest.
106 107
The giant armadillo The Andean wolf
the confusion with a snake
made by the scaly appea-
rance of the head coming
out of the water, it could then
be a question of the glypto-
dontus, a giant prehistoric
armadillo of 3.5 to 4 meters
length, weighing up to 2
tonnes. The current arma-
dillos are burrowing animals.
The glyptodontus, or glyp-
todon, is supposed to have
disappeared 10 000 years
ago with the arrival of man. It
lived in Brazil, Argentina and
Bolivia.
108 109
Esakar-paki or the unknown peccary The habéby
peccary. A third species lives in Para-
guay. All three are of a dark color.
A small aggressive russet one :
our unidentified peccary is small and
russet-colored. It resembles the white-
The unknown peccary lipped peccary, is aggressive and does
not fear humans. It lives in a herd of
50 to 60 individuals, led by a small, old
one. A Shuar caver was attacked by a
herd of these animals and had to hide
in a tree.
Possible confusion : the young
The collared peccary
collared peccary also has russet-co-
lored fur. But young ones do not form
herds and the Indians know the wildlife
of their country well.
110 111
The mangarsahoc The tsomgoby
Hypotheses :
these three cryp-
tids could well
be the same ani-
mal. It could be
a question of the
survival of hip-
popotami having
lived on the is-
land. The dwarf
hippopotamus
of Madagascar,
Hippopotamus
lemerlei, sup-
posed to have
disappeared
from the island in
the Xth century,
A rather imprecise portrait : and Hexaprotodon madagascariensis,
sometimes it is spoken of as resem- supposed to have disappeared only
bling the horse and the mule, some- 500 years ago, both the size of the
From 1658 : Admiral de Flacourt times an aquatic ox without a hump. In African dwarf hippopotamus, reaching
talks of it in his Histoire de la grande Isle other regions, it is stated to have huge nevertheless 1 m at the withers, 1.70
de Madagascar. In 1770, the Count de drooping ears, which would make it m long and 200 kilos.
Modave describes it as a wild ass living the third cryptid (unknown animal) of
in the region of Fort-Dauphin and frigh- Madagascar with ears that droop. That
tening the indigenous people. is a lot for wild animals. It must be
An unknown ass : the animal is remembered that this characteristic is
large, has the horse’s round foot, long generally the consequence of domes-
ears that apparently hide its eyes when tication.
it comes down the mountainside, and The kavay : in the mountains of An-
brays like a donkey. kaizinana, this is the name of an aqua-
One or two asses : our wild ass
tic animal which would emerge from the
is also called mangarisaoka, « whose
water to tear travellers’ eyes out.
ears hide the chin », but another, living
A witness saw several times (one of
in the empty places of the south of the
which was in 1976) an animal known
island, called tokatongotra or toka-
tomboka, would resemble both the ass by the name of kilopilopitsofy, the
and the horse. It is doubtless the same size of a cow without horns, a dark
animal. skin colored pink around the eyes
More asses : others are notified in and the mouth. Its ears are large and
the forest of Ankaizinana, in the regions flexible (not drooping), its mouth larger
of Bealanana and Mananjary. The mangarsahoc is reported in all these than that of an elephant. Its cry is very
Hoofprints have been recorded. mountainous regions. similar to that of the hippopotamus. Location of the mysterious aquatic animals.
112 113
The mammoth discovered large tracks in northern
Yakutia. Same report ten years later.
back 10 000 years. In fact, carbon-14
datings estimate the age of the fos-
In 1989, a hunter states having seen sils at 3 700 to 4 000 years old. These
two groups of three mammoths. Final- small mammoths only measured 1.80
ly, in May 1998, a group of gold-dig- m at the withers.
gers observed a herd of mammoths The taïga, the presumed environ-
in Yakutia, near a tributary of the Indi- ment of the mammoths, is a conife-
girka. rous forest adapted to the cold, mixed
Legends : in all of Siberia, there with leafy trees (birches, poplars,
are legends referring to the mam- willows), and sprinkled with marshes.
moth, always presented, however, Survival ? The Siberian taïga
as a subterranean animal, digging is as large as three-quarters of the
out galleries with its enormous teeth. United States. How could a hairy ele-
These legends no doubt stem from phant which is smaller than an Asian
the discovery of frozen mammoths elephant not be hidden there ? There
which seem to come out of the earth. are also reports from Alaska and the
An animal of the forest : skins of Canadian state of Yukon.
frozen mammoths show the absence
of sebaceous glands and sweat
glands which could make their wool
waterproof. Bernard Heuvelmans had
the idea that, unable to protect them-
selves from rain and snow, they could
not live in icy plains. They were the-
refore forest animals. Plants found in
the stomachs of frozen mammoths
confirm this : they are typical of the
Sighting reports : In 1580, Cos- several days, he saw two mammoths taïga (northern forest).
sacks saw, beyond the Ural Moun- in a clearing. They were dark brown, Not so large : the Siberian mam-
tains, a large hairy elephant. In 1899, had white curved tusks and long hair moth is smaller than the Asian ele-
an American article showed that the that floated about behind them. This phant, which is 3 meters high at the
Alaskan Eskimos, who have only happened between the rivers Lena withers (4 meters for the African ele-
been living in North America for 1 and Amur. In 1922, the Eskimos of phant).
000 years, know the mammoth well. Siberia (the Evenks) saw a mammoth Close to the Asian elephant : se-
Before the Russian revolution (1917), at the edge of the Arctic Ocean. In rological reactions (from the blood of
the inhabitants of a village apparently 1944, several pilots flying from Alaska frozen mammoths) show that the Si-
fled from a herd of mammoths which to Moscow saw a herd of mammoths berian mammoth, or woolly mammoth
destroyed everything in its way. In walking in single file in the snow. In (Mammuthus primigenius), is closely
1918, a Russian hunter saw enor- 1952, the Soviets reported that living related to the Asian elephant.
mous oval footprints, 60 to 70 cm mammoths had been seen. In 1956, a Dwarf mammoths : on Wrangel
long by 50 cm wide. He followed the schoolmistress in a small village near Island, near the Bering Straits, small
footprints, entered the forest where Taz was picking mushrooms. She was mammoths lived until an epoch more
he saw that the branches were bro- approached to within 10 meters by a The mammoth hides in the northern forests
recent than the estimated disappea-
which cover nearly all this map and exist
ken up to a height of 3 meters. After mammoth. In 1962, a Yakut hunter rance of the mammoth, which goes here and there by the Bering Straits.
114 115
The dwarf bear of The white bear of The giant bear of Kamchatka
Nepal Tibet or irkuiem
116 117
The sukotyro such elephants are found in the north of
Borneo, no taller than 2.50 m at the wit-
blematic. It could be a stegodon or ano-
ther unknown prehistoric species. The
hers, which are the smallest elephants numerous islands of this region could
in the world. There is a belief that they have produced just as many endemic
were imported from Java by a certain species. To our knowledge, it has not
sultan of Sulu, who obtained land in been heard of since 1703 … But Java’s
the north of Borneo around 1700. It is forests are deep …
a sub-species of Asian elephant, in the
same way as the Sumatran elephant,
also very small. But this animal is too
small to correspond with the sukotyro.
There is, furthermore, a long tail which
is not thick and bushy.
A mystery : the identity and the sur-
vival of the sukotyro remain very pro-
118 119
Giant bats
The official ones : the largest bat « fear of what flies at night » would
in the world is the Malaysian or large also be a giant bat (size not specified).
flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus). Its The orang-bati of Indonesia, hidden in
wingspan reaches 1.70 m. It glides the heart of a volcano in Seram Island,
about in south-east Asia. In Africa, the would carry off children. Finally, in Java,
monstrous hammer-headed bat (Hyp- the ahool, a bat with a wingspan of
signathus monstrosus) lives in swampy 3.60 m is reported, i.e. more than twice
tropical rainforest and comes up as far the size of the largest official bat.
as the south of Senegal. Its wingspan
reaches 1 meter. In Madagascar, the
Malagasy flying fox (Eido-
lon dupreanum) also has
a wingspan of up to one
meter.
The unofficial ones :
in Madagascar, they talk
about the fangalabolo,
a word meaning a cater-
pillar and a giant bat drop-
ping onto walkers to pull
out their hair and lace- Man Malaysian flying fox Ahool of Java
rate their faces. No size 1.80 m (known species) (unknown species)
1.70 m 3.60 m
indicated. In Senegal, the
guiafairo, which means The four places accommodating giant bats.
120 121
4- Reptiles except snakes The three-toed lizard
Everyone has heard about the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years
ago, probably due to the impact of a meteorite. Now, crocodiles are not very dif-
ferent from dinosaurs and are still with us. From there it is only a step to wonder
whether a few discreet species of dinosaur (they were not all giants) could have
survived in impenetrable regions, a step taken by cryptozoology on the basis of
African or Australian observations… The heaviest known reptiles are the leather-
back turtle which weighs 680 kilos and the marine crocodile which could reach a
tonne. In this chapter, we shall not discuss marine reptiles, which will come in the
chapter dedicated to marine cryptids.
122 123
Flying reptiles their pirogue. These observations have
been collected since the beginning of
The ropen of New Guinea : on the
island of Umboi, numerous witnesses
the 20th century by several explorers. describe a large long-tailed pterosaur,
a nocturnal fisher, which stands upright
on tree-trunks (not hanging upside
down like bats). It would also inhabit the
island of Manus.
Kongamato means
« he who makes pirogues overturn ».
A cryptozoologist attacked : in
1932, in Cameroon, Ivan Sanderson
was attacked by a nose-dive from a
« bat » the size of an eagle (2 m wings-
pan), which was black and armed with
numerous spaced teeth. The natives
An incredible survival : in the swamps row heads like dogs with a long muzzle, told him about the oliatiaou, of which
of Africa, North America and in Oceania, numerous teeth like needles and a long they are very afraid. The largest African
the indigenous population describe a lizard narrow tail. Their wingspan was about 1 m bats have a wingspan of 1.20 m and
adorned with wings of skin, without fea- and their length 1.35 m. Their flight was none is black.
thers, and with a beak armed with teeth slow and silent ». This description reminds A lover of fish : its presence in
(named the kongamato in Africa). one of certain tailed pterosaurs. swamps and mountains would indicate
that it feeds on fish and nests in cliffs.
An old Zambian native saw one coming
out of the water and flying away.
Rare traces : in his 1928 book, a
game-keeper talks of tracks on the
ground of a bipedal animal with a heavy
tail, and of observations of a flying, noc-
turnal animal coming down from Mount
Kenya.
In Namibia, the kongamato In Zambia and in Oceania, The kongamato would American observations : in Texas
would reach 9 meters long-tailed reptile is talked about. nest in cliffs.
and California, rare witnesses talk of
A variable wingspan : from 1.20 m Bright red ? In Zambia, it would be pterosaurs with a wingspan reaching 2
to 2.15 m, up to 9 m in Namibia. blood-red. This unlikely color is perhaps m, 4.50 m or 6 m, observed between the
With or without tail : a tail is mentio- just an expression of the fear that the 1960s and the 1980s. In 1961, a busi-
ned in New Guinea and in Zambia, where animal inspires. nessman, piloting his aeroplane above
an engineer saw, in 1956, « two birds An aggressive animal : it nose- the state of New York, claims to have Distribution of flying reptiles. New Guinea is
looking incredibly prehistoric, with nar- dives on men, who, in a panic, overturn had a close brush with a large pterosaur. situated to the north of Australia.
124 125
The mokélé-m’bembé A territory unchanged for millions
of years : glaciations did not reach this
territory of Africa, and small dinosaurs
could have survived till our times.
There is also talk in the same re-
gions of the emela n’touka, a similar
animal, with a crocodile’s tail.
Alternative hypotheses : if the
mokele-m’bembe is not a dinosaur, it
could be a long-necked monitor lizard,
a mammal like a dinosaur, or a badly-
observed turtle.
126 127
The chipekwé The railalomena
White horn : we are now back in the These events were reported at the
north of Zambia where the indigenous beginning of the 20th century. Dinosaurs
people talk of the chipekwe, the impre- with a nasal horn existed. A similar ani- Indigenous rumours: they talk of
cise description of which makes one mal is described in Madagascar (see an animal whose name means « an-
think of the mokele-m’bembe with a rhi- the railalomena, following page). cestor of the hippopotamus ». It would
noceros horn in very smooth « ivory ». live in marshes and have a horn in the
A saber-toothed feline ? Horn not middle of its forehead.
possibly being made of ivory, Bernard African legend ? This rumour came
Heuvelmans thinks that the allusion perhaps from Africa. In fact, the railalo-
to ivory could come from a confused mena reminds one of the chipekwe of
image of a saber-toothed feline. Zambia.
Footprints : a retired magistrate Dried marshes : if the rumour is
found footprints reminiscent of those of really local, the animal could have di-
a hippopotamus but considerably lar- sappeared along with the drying-out of
ger : 90 x 73 cm ! That is the size of the the marshes, which started in the XVIth
footprints of a brontosaurus. century. However, rivers remain in Ma-
A rapid one : its hind paws would be dagascar, and, knowing that the African
longer than the front ones, and it would mokele-mbembe hides in them, we can
be as rapid on land as in the water. This still hope to see our railalomena one
speed could differentiate it from the mo- day.
kele-m’bembe.
Killer of hippopotami : it hunts them The chipekwe is found in the north of Zam-
in the water, pursues them on land and bia, in Lake Bangwelo, Lake Moreo, the river The railalomena of Madagascar is reminis-
kills them. It is not said that it eats them. Luapula, the marshes of Kafue and Dilolo. cent of the Zambian chipekwe.
128 129
The monster of Kafue The spiny-backed reptile
130 131
The gauarge Some were no larger than
a chicken. If such an ani-
Giant monitor lizards
mal could have existed in
Australia, perhaps it still
exists in neighbouring
islands that remain wild.
In any case, the places of
observation or memory of
the gauarge are not speci-
fied.
Footprints : it is no
doubt difficult to distin-
guish between the foot-
prints of an emu and those
of this small lizard-ostrich,
unless it does not have the
same number of fingers
(the emu has three, the
ostrich two, the struthiomi-
mus three …). It must be
realised that the emu does
not detest water : it is even
capable of swimming. It
can thus be imagined that Official record 3 meters : the monitor lizards in the French Pyrenees,
the gauarge could hide in largest monitor lizard at present reco- in the region between Lourdes and
water. gnized is the Komodo dragon, which Argelès, near Mount Pibeste, measu-
lives in small Indonesian islands, and is ring 2 meters or more, having no doubt
3 meters long. since disappeared.
However, in New Guinea, witnesses
are adamant. The Gould monitor li-
zard (Varanus gouldii) has sizes up to
3.50 m. and Varanus salvadorii, or pa-
pusaurus, a size of 6 meters, due to its
long thin tail…
But this is not all, the cryptozoologist
Rex Gilroy collected in Australia obser-
The Australian aborigenes describe vations dating from 1975 concerning
a sort of lizard-ostrich, resembling a monitor lizards measuring between
featherless, semi-aquatic emu. Is this a 7 and 9 meters !
recent memory of an animal still alive, A survivor : in that case, we are
reminiscent of small carnivorous dino- dealing with a survivor of the Pleisto-
saurs ? The struthiomimus was one cene epoch : the megalonia prisca,
of these small dinosaurs resembling which measured about 8 meters and
featherless ostriches. It measured up was known to the first colonialists.
to 3 m height and could weigh up to N.B. in newspapers of the end of the
300 kg. Dinosaurs of all sizes existed. XIXth century, there are descriptions of Localization of giant monitor lizards.
132 133
Aboriginal memories The giant tortoise of Madagascar
Even if it concerns animals which that numerous skulls close to those of
have probably disappeared, we are Homo erectus have been found in Aus-
going to evoke some Australian aborigi- tralia, dating from only 6 000 to 25 000
nal memories that are particularly distur- years ago.
bing.
Tyrannosaurus ? near Lake Alexan-
drina, in the south of Australia, the abo-
rigines speak of a large reptile which
used to exist, moving about on its hind
legs with strong claws. Its front legs
were short, its pointed teeth formidable.
A hunter named Wyungare would have
killed one with a lance.
The kulta was a herbivorous animal
The tyrannosaurus
similar to a sauropod dinosaur, living
previously in the marshes of the north of
the continent. It would have disappeared
along with the drying-out of the marshes.
The wanambi resembled the kulta,
with an extendable crest on its back.
The myndie ate leaves from trees
the tops of which were cleared by its
Tortoise of the past : Madagascar crocodile. Bernard Heuvelmans declared
head, so long was its neck.
possessed a prehistoric giant tortoise that he would not be surprised if the giant
Australia, isolated from the rest of the
world about fifty million years ago, deve-
The kulta which is supposed to be extinct, victim prehistoric crocodile Crocodilus robustus
loped an endemic fauna. The arrival of of the drought. This species exceeded a (80 cm skull) were to be found on the is-
the first men 50 000 years ago, followed meter in length, weighed a tonne, and is land.
by the colonialists, occasioned a mas- called « Grandidier’s tortoise » (Testudo
sacre of the local fauna on a scale diffi- grandidieri).
cult to imagine.It should not be forgotten Present but hidden : all the same,
there are rumours about its possible sur-
vival in the caves of the south-west of the
island.
Other giant tortoises : the tortoise of
The wanambi the Seychelles (Geochelone gigantea), is
also a giant but not so heavy (1.25 m long
and 300 kg), used to live in the north of
Madagascar, and was to be found in all
the islands from the Seychelles to Mada-
gascar. Nowadays it is only found on the
island of Aldabra. A second giant tortoise
exists in the world : the Galapagos tortoise
(Geochelone nigra), measuring 1.40 m for The giant tortoise of Madagascar should be
200 kg. looked for in the caves of the south-west
N.B. In Madagascar, specialists hesi- of the island. It is on the island of Aldabra
tate about the presence of one or two that the last giant tortoises of the Seychelles
The myndie species of crocodile, one being the Nile remain today.
134 135
The lipata The kipumbubu
A super-crocodile : this
would be a large-sized croco-
dile, 4 to 6 meters long, whose « Normal » crocodiles cannot
mouth and neck would be lar- catch a man in a pirogue. Further-
ger than those of a normal cro- more, they never eat prey captured
codile. The eyes are close to- alive, which they prefer to leave to
gether and placed on the top of rot before swallowing them.
the head. It has, as is the case The kipumbubu, although re-
with all crocodiles, saw-toothed sembling a crocodile, seizes men
scales on the tail. Some claim in pirogues up to a meter in height
that it is larger than a hippopo- and swallows them alive. It puts
tamus, which suggests consi- its paws on the pirogue, and tips
derable thickness. overboard the helmsman, whom it
Discreet and of the twi- swallows head first, crushing him
light : hidden in the water, it between its teeth.
would only come out in the The observations come from
morning and the evening. Car- indigenous people and date from
nivorous and very voracious, before 1943, and concern the ri-
it would swallow goats, pigs, ver Rufiji in Tanzania. The animal
oxen, but also men and croco- would hide at the bottom of the
diles … rivers and lakes and would only act
Observations stem from the at night.
indigenous people of Tyipukun- The lipata is rife in the Chiumbe and Cassaï rivers of Its body would be as large as The kipumbubu hides at the bottom of the river
gu, in north-east Angola. north-east Angola. « a trunk of a mango tree ». Rufiji in Tanzania.
136 137
The nsanga The beast of Karoo
138 139
The worm with legs or tatzelwurm
The bipes
140 141
5- Birds The moa
Birds are rare in cryptozoology for a simple reason : they are the most visible Last memories : the first mam-
animals. Contrary to most mammals, birds are mainly diurnal. Their aerial way of mals were only introduced into New
moving about is not the most discreet, and, in many species, males also adore per- Zealand in the XIIth century by man
ching in the treetops in order to show themselves off to the females that they wish (dogs and rats). In the absence
to court. That is why most unknown birds are terrestrial ones, which do not fly and, of predators, many birds in these
because of this, can easily hide in thickets, even in burrows, or in the water like the islands had lost their wings. This is
great auk. There remains the case of giant raptors which have everything to make the case of the moa, the largest of
them visible but remain perhaps more often unobserved because of the difficulty of which reached a height of more than
estimating the size of a bird in flight. 3 meters for a weight of 320 kg. This
bird with sturdy legs was no doubt
vegetarian. According to the Maoris,
it also fed on molluscs, crustaceans
and fish. Remains have been found
in caves, showing that it must have
sought refuge there in bad weather.
The last sighting of a moa by a na-
tive dates from 1771. American seal-
hunters saw it at the beginning of
the XIXth century. In 1861, the bird’s
footprints 35 cm long and 27 cm
wide were found. In 1881, a 7-year-
old girl observed a large unknown
bird, in Martins Bay, in North Island.
Has the moa disappeared ? It
is believed that it could logically be
hidden in the impenetrable forests of
the south-west of South Island.
142 143
The roa-roa The koau
144 145
The great auk (originally called penguin)
146 147
Giant raptors
148 149
6- Fishes The unidentified shark
Fishes are not very numerous in cryptozoology because they live in the least
known environment : the sea. We only know the light parts of it. Light visible to
man does not go further down than 500 m. Deeper than that it is pitch black, at
least for us, but certain species are still able to see, because their eyes are bet-
ter adapted than ours. The further down you go in this icy darkness, the greater
the pressure of the water, making it necessary to build more strongly armored
submarines in order to resist it. Only with such bathyscaphs can we light up
the seabed, hoping to meet new species. It is rather like looking for a puma at
night in the depths of the forest with a hand-torch. It is therefore normal that we
know only a small part of the aquatic fauna of our oceans. It is good to know
that the corpses of whales that go down to the bottom serve as an important
reservoir of food for a large fauna of the depths. Our activities at the surface, in
particular whale hunting, could endanger the survival of a fauna of the depths
which is still quite unknown to us.
6 meters and a photo : off the coast marine currents. Its large size and lar-
of the Malpelo archipelago, south of the ger eyes could be an adaptation to
isthmus connecting the two Americas, depth (more pressure and less light).
a shark, certain females of which reach The ferocious shark, in spite of its
up to 6 meters in length, has been pho- name, possesses small teeth, ill-adap-
tographed. ted to slicing up large prey. It is inof-
Different from the ferocious fensive to man. Which leaves one to
shark : it looks, at first glance, like a suppose that its larger cousin is not
known species : the ferocious shark dangerous either.
(Odontaspis ferox). The latter, howe-
ver, never exceeds 4 meters, and our
unknown beauty possesses a more
forward dorsal fin than its ferocious cou-
sin. Furthermore, its eyes are proportio-
nately larger.
New species ? The difference in
size and morphology could mean a new
species or a sub-species of the fero-
cious shark, stemming from an isolated
population.
It likes the deep : our unknown
likes to go down into deep water, below
50 meters, which makes it difficult to
approach it. Finally, the region is well The unknown shark occurs around the Mal-
known for its heavy storms and strong pelo archipelago, near Central America.
150 151
The lau The yero
152 153
The megalodon Giant fishes
A prehistoric shark : the megalo- ters in diameter and teeth 10 cm long The megalodon needing to feed, it And, to finish with, between 1986 and
don appeared 25 million years ago and by 8 cm width at the base were found was logical for it to meet giant fishes 1987 several military pilots saw giant
disappeared officially 10 000 years ago. embedded. The shark is estimated at here and there… a few examples : manta rays in the Red Sea, near Dji-
It measured up to 40 meters in length 24 meters. 1966 : from a bathyscaph, off the bouti. They state that a helicopter could
and weighed 200 tonnes. Its jaws were In 1980, a shark estimated at 27 coast of San Diego (Southern Califor- have landed on them.
1.80 m wide and its teeth of more than meters was observed off the Australian nia), a 10-meter sea bass is observed, Logical gigantism : the more mas-
15 cm inspired respect. It was a sort of coasts of Queensland and New South whose tailfin measures 1.20 m and sive an animal is, the more the ratio
giant white shark, the latter reaching up Wales. whose eyes are as large as plates. mass-surface is modified in favour of
to 8 meters. However, it is considered to Finally, a 20-meter white shark is 1968 : 12 cm long teeth were found, the mass. It therefore seems logical
be a different species. known to wander around False Bay embedded in the body of a small shark, that, in order to resist pressure better,
Recent fossils : fossilized teeth (South Africa). resembling those of a grouper. animals living in the depths must be
have however been found off the coast Wounds have also been found on An oceanographer photographed, more massive than others. The day that
of Victoria (Australia), dating from only whales which suggest enormous white between the depths of 1 800 and 3 600 we have the means to explore the bot-
5 000 years ago. sharks. m. fish of an unknown species 6 to 8 tom of the oceans, we shall no doubt be
At the end of the XIXth century, Survival of the megalodon ? The meters long off the coast of Baja Cali- faced with surprises … sizeable ones !
12.5 cm long teeth of the white shark ocean is vast and remains the most fornia and not far from Hawaii … See the Japanese takitarô, page
were brought up from the bottom of the secret environment of the planet. It suf- Finally, in Kenya, some fishermen 166.
Pacific. fices for this giant shark to live mostly in assert that groupers can reach a tonne.
In 1954, a ship was bitten near Ade- the great depths for it to be totally unob- The heaviest grouper whose weight
laide (South Australia) : the semi-circle served, most of the time. could be verified reached 148 kg.
of the teeth’s impact measured two me-
154 155
The eel-shaped one The yellow one
Recurrent sightings : reports side could explain these vertical undu- A giant tadpole : the yellow one,
concerning sea-snakes recur frequent- lations. These fishes of the great depths thus named because of its color, has
ly, and a large number of them can be could, in passing through warmer and the shape of a flattened tadpole and
explained by giant fish of the eel type, therefore less oxygenated water, die reaches, including its tail, 20 to 30 me-
conger or moray (for the Mediterra- on reaching the surface in search of ters.
nean). oxygen. It becomes darker with age : its
A giant baby : the leptocephalus, Two species : observations men- black longitudinal stripe and its trans-
or eel larva before its metamorphosis, tion two peaks of 10 and 30 meters versal black bands seem to become
normally measures 7 cm. Now, in 1930, length. This allows one to suppose the thicker with age and invade the yellow
one was fished in the south Atlantic presence of two different eel-shaped color, which remains only in the form of
measuring … 1.80 m ! Extrapolating species. See also the multi-humpback brown marks on the body and brown
from that, you arrive at an eel of 33 to page 169 and the super-otter page 170, rings on the tail. Unless it is a question
55 meters. two snake-shaped marine mammals. of gender difference.
Dorsal fin : most reports speak of It hates the cold : it is to be found in
a continuous dorsal fin, typical of these warm to temperate waters of the Indian
fish. Ocean and the Pacific, never below
Vertical undulations : some reports 10°C.
speak of vertical undulations, which This animal is no doubt a large-sized
would indicate a mammal, the only ver- fish.
tebrate to twist its spine in this way. But,
in some cases, fishes dying on their
156 157
7- Marine cryptids The colossal squid
Men have been describing all sorts of marine monsters since Antiquity. Bernard
Heuvelmans went through the enormous collection of documents written on the
subject and was able to separate out the reports so as to make precise Identikits
of those animals which were most frequently observed. The zoological and eco-
logical coherence of these animals favour their credibility. The sea is an immense
environment, the largest of the planet (three-quarters of its surface), which is, in
addition, three dimensional. Instead of a surface, one can speak of an unexplored
volume. Because it really is the only remaining scarcely surveyed environment.
Furthermore, boats, for commercial reasons or those connected with winds or cur-
rents, always follow the same narrow sealanes. In this way, marine animals can
cruise around in the other sectors in complete liberty without ever being noticed
by anyone. It can be added that sailors are not necessarily zoologists capable
of picking out a new species unless it is strikingly different from the others. It is
clear that, as soon as new technical means permit us to explore the great depths
efficiently, we shall discover infinitely more unknown species than this book could
contain. Those who will be astounded at the marine cryptids described in the fol-
lowing pages can expect even more astonishing discoveries in the coming years.
158 159
The giant jellyfish The luminous The beast of Soay The web-footed
creature crocodile
In 1973, the cargo-boat Kuranda was 30 July 1915 : when the British stea-
sailing off the coast of Sydney (Austra- mer Iberian exploded, torpedoed by a
lia). An enormous wave swept over the submarine in the north Atlantic, a croco-
boat and left on the deck a gigantic jel- dile of about 20 meters length was seen
lyfish. Some of its tentacles measured thrown up into the air, with webbed feet
60 meters in length. They were twisting and a long slender head.
about on the deck and became entan- This crocodile makes one think ine-
gled in the machine room. A man was vitably of a prehistoric web-footed cro-
killed by one of them. An SOS was sent The beast of Soay owes its name to a very codile, the metriorhynchus, which lived
small island near Great Britain, which is
out and a ship came to the rescue. With in the Jurassic period, and also had a
one of the observation sites. Apart from the
the help of flamethrowers, the crew ma- legend of Sumatra, it is mainly observed fish’s tail, not mentioned in this report.
naged to return the unwelcome guest to The luminous creature was seen in the up- in cold temperate regions (near Newfoun-
the sea. per dam of the Umgusa river, in Zimbabwe. dland, western France).
160 161
Marine reptiles The marine horse
162 163
The long-necked eared seal or Loch Argument about the tail : Bernard taken from the film shows a lozenge-
Heuvelmans thinks that the animal shaped flipper, measuring between
Ness monster might not have a tail and that what has 1.50 and 2.40 m. In 1997, thanks to a
been observed would be the two hind system based on ultrasounds, a boat
paws close together. located two large masses at a depth of
Sometimes on land : like an eared 120 meters.
seal, also known as a sea lion, the ani- A video made in 2007 shows, close
mal is sometimes observed on land. to the surface of Loch Ness, a large, ra-
However, it is presumed that it repro- ther snake-like silhouette, moving along
duces in the water ; otherwise, the ani- with the head just about at the surface.
mal would not be seen so seldom. Unusual sounds in Norway : in
In Loch Ness, the animal would 1999, an expedition to Lake Seljords-
come up to breathe in underwater vatnet in Norway searched for sounds
caves that have never been explored, beneath the water thanks to hydro-
and which would come above the sur- phones placed at a depth of 30 meters.
face of the lake, allowing it to rest unob- Low-pitched sounds were registered,
served. In this lake, it would feed mostly up to eight times a day, in a frequency
on salmon. situated between 200 and 400 hertz.
Color : dark brown above, with irre- Specialists believe that they could be
gular light or dark and yellowish white produced by a large mammal, a whale
patches below. or a sea lion.
Size : quite variable according to Conclusion : this cryptid seems to
the reports, generally between 5 and 20 be a long-necked sea lion adapted to
meters. deep waters, more aquatic than its cou-
Rapidity : what often strikes wit- sins, and very swift. Like many cryptids,
nesses is the speed with which the ani- it is certainly through improved methods
A worldwide monster : the fa- its supple neck on its back, like swans mal swims, estimated at between 25 of detection that we shall manage one
mous Loch Ness monster, one of the do. On the top of its head there are two and 55 km/h. day to find out what it is.
rare cryptids, along with the yeti, to be small horns which could be respiratory A migratory sea lion : marine ob-
known to the public, is observed not tubes extending from its nostrils, so that servations take place near coasts in
only in Loch Ness. It is a marine ani- it can breathe without emerging, thus cold temperate zones of both hemis-
mal, seen mostly in the oceans, which explaining its discretion. According to pheres (between 0°C and 10°C), and
seems, here and there, to have been the cryptozoologist Ivan Sanderson, in the open ocean in warm temperate
trapped in fjords closed up into large, another use of these tubes could be zones. The observations are seasonal :
deep lakes. It occurs in fact in nume- to send bubbles back over its head to it is seen in the summer in the northern
rous other Scottish lakes, Ireland, Ice- avoid interfering with its field of vision. hemisphere, from the end of April till
land, Norway, Sweden, Malaysia, Aus- The mouth is large. Sometimes a small October, in the tropics until February
tralia, Alaska, Canada, USA, Argentina, mane at the base of the neck is men- and in the southern hemisphere from
Japan and even Africa. tioned. The back has three humps, the February till April. These migrations
A portrait which excludes the rep- one in the middle being the largest. The would be made possible by its high
tile : the head is round, slightly flatte- four paws have large webbed fingers. speed.
ned. The quite slender snout becomes The skin is sometimes creased and Sonars in Loch Ness : in 1968, two
longer with age. A short coat, gleaming shrivelled. The tail, when it is described, long objects, about 20 meters in length,
when wet and rough when dry, is men- is powerful and accounts for one-third were captured by sonar. They were mo-
tioned, as well as a mustache.. Its eyes of the body. The animal is extremely ving at 35 km/h. In 1970, a sonar captu- « Nessie » hides in Loch Ness, a large lake
are small. Sometimes the animal rests supple. red two animals hunting salmon. A photo situated in Scotland.
164 165
Gregory Beaussart gave me some
information about Japanese lake
with bulging eyes. It would have a mus-
tache and a red face. Sea lions regu-
The pygmy seal
monsters which also abound in dif- larly come up this river. The problem
ferent regions and each bears a local is that a witness states that the animal
name. is bipedal, and that it came out of the
Hassie : in 1986, in the Nagara water to climb a tree.
river, near the town of Haneda, com- Missy : observed one evening by a
mune of Kuwabara, department of Gifu, fisherman in the lake of Mizumoto Park
Honshu, two schoolteachers glimpsed near Tokyo, it would be a reptile of
the shadow of a triangular shape about about 3 meters, different from the alli-
2 meters long by 1 m width. The back gator or the iguana. An alligator would
was dark brown or black. have been seen in this lake in 1986. It
Assie : in Lake Akan, near the town could be a question of a domestic ani-
of Kishiro, on the east side of Hok- mal, released and wrongly identified.
kaido, just a large shadow of about 10 Namitarô : first observation : 1966.
meters was seen, filmed in a video by Near the town of Itoigawa, depart-
a fisherman. ment of Niigata, a large unknown fish
Assie no. 2 : in Lake Ashi, com- is swimming in Takanami pond. Some
mune of Hakone, district of Ashigara, speak of a dorsal fin.
Honshu, the monster is far better Takitarô : in Ootori pond, near the
known than the one in Lake Akan. Ob- village of Asahi, department of Yama-
served for the first time in 1940, it is taga, a 3.50 m fish, of the salmon fami-
described as measuring 10 meters and ly, was seen for the first time in 1982. The pygmy seal (top) compared with the spotted seal.
having a streamlined body and a long However, this giant fish is mentioned
neck. in Japanese legends prior to the IXth An Arctic dwarf : the pygmy seal
Issie : from 1943, in Lake Ikeda, century. measures only 73 cm. The female of
near the town of Ibusuki, southern tip the spotted, or ringed, seal, the smal-
of Kyushu, there appears from time to lest of the known seals, measures 1.15
time a large creature of 10 to 20 me- m, record of smallness which it disputes
ters length which shows two humps or with that of Lake Baikal, of roughly the
fins when it touches the surface. It and same size.
the previous one could be close to the Herds of seals : this animal lives in
Loch Ness monster. groups of 300 individuals.
Kussie : from 1973, in Lake Kus- A specimen in a zoo : Hamburg
haro, commune of Teshikaga, Hokkai- Zoo had a specimen of this seal at the
do, another replica of the Loch Ness beginning of the XXth century, proving
that at least one had existed, even if it is
monster could be seen : long neck, two
always possible that a single individual
antennae on the head, a hump on the
is a case of abnormality.
back and about 15 meters long.
It likes cold waters : it would be vi-
Matsudodon : from 1972 or 1975,
sible off the coasts of the Barents Sea,
in the Edogawa river, near the town of
north of Norway.
Matsudo, not far from Tokyo, an ani- Sub-species : it is thought that it
Locations of Japanese lake monsters accor-
mal of about 2 meters resembling a could be a sub-species of the spotted
ding to name (see geographical names in
sea lion was seen. The head is round, the text). seal. The pygmy seal occurs in the Barents Sea.
166 167
The multi-fin The multi-humpback
The multi-humpback looks like a warm current of the north Atlantic, spen-
very streamlined cetacean which could ding the summer close to the coasts of
reach 35 meters in length and is cha- America.
racterized by the presence of a series of
humps on its back. These could be air-
bags, serving as stabilizers and oxygen
reserves at the same time (hypothe-
sis of Ivan Sanderson). It is very dark
brown above and white below, with two
white zebra stripes on the side of its
A strange mammal : the multi-fin is Armor : the skin is strengthened by neck. Only the males or old individuals
a mammal without any doubt : it blows what appear to be scales, and the spine would have a fin behind the neck.
noisily and its nostrils, placed in front, has a small saw-edged crest. Very swift : its maximum speed is
are surrounded by whiskers. In addi- Warm seas : our battleship is obser- estimated at 65 km/h, which is very fast
tion, it undulates vertically. ved in tropical waters, but also in warm in water.
Difficult to turn : its flat body, un- temperate waters. It would be fond of Lover of the Gulf Stream : the ani-
dulating up and down, stabilized by its rocky and coral shallows. In any case, mal is most often observed between
many fins, must have difficulty in tur- it is a coastal mammal, colored brown New York and Newfoundland, espe-
ning. This is why the animal has to lean with spots. cially in the bay of Massachusetts, but The multi-humpback enjoys the warm wa-
to one side in order to turn, making its also in southern Iceland, indicating that ters of the Gulf Stream, with a preference
fins visible at the surface. it moves around in the Gulf Stream, the for the American coasts in the summer.
168 169
The super-otter The ri
170 171
Steller’s sea-cow The marine monkey
172 173
The whale with two dorsal fins The two cetaceans with high dorsal
fins
We come now to the case of un- 1898 : another observation, off the
known cetaceans. Michel Raynal has coast of Stonehaven (Scotland) : the
collected all the information on the sub- two triangular fins had a space of about
ject and shown that a cetacean has 6 m between them. Behind a fin, there
been discovered on average every 8 was a protuberance shaped like a ca-
years since 1758, in an irregular way, mel’s hump. The body was bluish, and
naturally. By a mathematical study of the head was apparently flatter than a
the curve of discoveries, he concluded whale’s. It measured more than 10 m,
in 2001 that 15 species remained to be without the tail, which was hidden.
discovered, which would bring the num- 1983 : in the Mediterranean, 1902 : A group of whales was ob- dentified cetaceans with high dorsal
ber of species to a total of 94. In 2002, between Corsica and the Var : a large served in the Antarctic. They had high fins were photographed. The snapshot
a new species of beaked whale had animal had two dorsal fins, a trapezoi- saber-shaped dorsal fins. They were can be seen on the site of the Virtual
already been discovered. dal-shaped head and a white belly. entirely black except for their chins and Institute of Cryptozoology. Their fin is
1667 : a naturalist observes between The 1667 report of the naturalist is were 6 to 9 meters long. This famous nevertheless not so high and slender
Callao (Peru) and Valparaiso (Chile), in so exact that it gives us an Identikit of dorsal fin was estimated as 0.90 to 1.20 as the one drawn in 1902, and their
the south-east Pacific, a whale with two the animal which is better than a photo- m high. The observer made very exact color is different. It could therefore be
dorsal fins : the back is a grayish-green. graph ! It is a baleen whale, a different drawings showing the animals as he a question of another species, parti-
The two dorsal fins, well developed, species of course from the rhinoceros saw them, that is to say coming out of cularly as the observation site is not
straight up, triangular, are separated by dolphin quoted on page 179. Sharks the water. the same. The lower drawing shows a
an apparently smooth space of about having two dorsal fins indicates to us 1910 and 1911 : other expeditions very liberal interpretation of the animal
2 meters. Its length is estimated at 18 that this double addition must have a to the Antarctic were able to observe based on photographs that show only
meters. A fairly precise drawing was pro- hydrodynamic usefulness. these cetaceans : 9 meters long, unifor- the back.
duced (see the website of Michel Ray- mly black back and pointed dorsal fin. Linnaeus described a sperm whale
nal’s Virtual Institute of Cryptozoology). 1964 : off the coast of Chile, uni- with a high dorsal fin in 1758.
174 175
The southern narwhal The whale without a dorsal fin
A baleen whale was observed in the north Atlantic until the XVIIth or XVIIIth century
by the English, who called it the scrag whale, because of its six bumps visible at
the end of its back. It is close to the right whale or the gray whale. The latter do not
have a dorsal fin either, but do not live in the north Atlantic. However, there exists
today in the north Atlantic a baleen whale without a dorsal fin : the northern whale
or Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus), but it has no bumps on its back.
176 177
The four cetaceans on this page were observed by the same witness during his
career in the Dutch merchant navy. He gave the reports of his observations in 1971.
The rhinoceros dolphin
Alula’s whale
178 179
8- Snakes, batrachians and the like The crested cawing cobra
of large rocks (see
illustration). Its cry
is chicken’s chir-
Snakes spend much time without moving. Depending on the size of the snake
ping and a hiss.
and that of its prey, digestion can take several weeks. Apart from that, they like to
Its poison is very
bask in the sun, stalso immobile. Cold-blooded animals, they are lethargic when
powerful.
the temperature is low. Furthermore, many of them hunt by lying in wait, therefore
In the whole of
without moving, and have the reflex to remain still at the approach of a predator
Africa : there are
… If one adds to that the fact that many species are twilight ones or completely
numerous reports
nocturnal, one can conclude that a snake is an animal which can easily remain
concerning snakes
unnoticed. Finally, once an individual becomes a giant, for these animals continue
with or without
to grow throughout their lives, it tends to find refuge in water, which supports its
crests, bleating,
weight better, and also hides it. It is not therefore surprising if certain species still
crowing, possibly
manage to escape us. As to salamanders, these aquatic species live most of their
like a rooster …
lives immobile at the bottom of cloudy water, in a muddy universe unimaginable to
Several spe-
man for daily life …
cies must be being
described by these
reports, which are
not very consistent.
180 181
The northern giant snake The taguerga
of its head. This
reminds us of the
snakes’ crests
seen on page
181, but this one
is black.
Poisonous :
according to
local rumours,
this snake would
have killed seve-
ral people by bi-
ting them on the
head.
182 183
The tzuchinoko Le olgoï-khorkhoï
184 185
Giant snakes The Californian giant salamander
186 187
Bibliography author begins by raking out all the false Jordi Magraner Heuvelmans. A book dealing in detail with
rumours, to eliminate them, ending up by the vast subject of lake monsters, the Loch
isolating the essential reports concerning • Les hominidés reliques d’Asie centrale Ness monster being just one case among
unknown African hominids. (Relics of central Asian hominids). Editions many others spread about in lakes world-
• Les Félins encore inconnus d’Afrique Association Troglodytes 1992. The account wide.
(Africa’s still unknown felines). Editions de of two investigations among shepherds in
I give below a list of the main works, ma- l’Oeil du Sphinx 2007. Heuvelmans’ main northern Pakistan, collecting reports of wild, Éric Joly - Pierre Affre
gazines and websites in French to which point on the subject. hairy men. Download here : http://daruc.
I referred. Most of the works presented • Les derniers dragons d’Afrique (Last pagesperso-orange.fr/hominidesreliquesa- • Les monstres sont vivants (Monsters
below are no longer available and have to dragons of Africa) Editions Plon 1980. siecentrale.pdf are alive). Editions Grasset 1995. Another
be sought in second-hand bookshops or on collection of the principal stars of cryptozoo-
Internet. The publisher Œil du Sphinx intend Jacqueline Roumeguère-Eberhardt Jean-Paul Debenat logy.
republishing the entire works of Bernard
Heuvelmans. To be followed up. • Les hominidés non identifiés des forêts • Sasquatch et le mystère des hommes Ralph Izzard
d’Afrique (Unidentified hominids of the Afri- sauvages Editions Le Temps Présent
Books can forests). Editions Robert Laffont 1990. 2007. This book is the only one, at present, • Sur la piste de l’abominable homme
Based on reports from her Masaï friends, in the French language dealing with sas- des neiges (Original title : The abominable
Ivan Sanderson whom she studied in depth, she draws quatch (or bigfoot). In English, there exists : snowman). Editions Amiot-Dumont 1955.
portraits of five types of hominids from the Sasquatch/Bigfoot and the Mystery of Translated from English by Henri Thies and
• Hommes des neiges et Hommes des forests of Kenya, three of which would be the Wild Man : Cryptozoology & Mythology Micheline Morin. The account of one of the
Bois. Editions Plon 1961. (Original title : Homo sapiens. There remain therefore two in the Pacific Northwest. Paperback, 2009. A first yeti expeditions.
Abominable snowmen : legend come to enigmatic hominids. Introduction by Ber- large part of it studies Amerindian traditions
life). An essential work, which is still relevant nard Heuvelmans. concerning sasquatch. Carlo Graffigna
today, which covers hominids throughout
the world, with the exception of Australia Marie-Jeanne Koffmann Dimitri Bayanov • L’énigme du yéti (The yeti enigma). Edi-
and Oceania, for which the author had no tions René Julliard 1962. Translated from
documents at the time. An excellent collec- • Two articles on the almasty, enigmatic • Sur les traces de l’homme des neiges Italian by S. de Vergennes. 267 fascinating
tive work. wild man of the Caucasus, in nos. 269/June russe (On the tracks of the Russian snow- pages about the Asiatic snowman.
1991 and 276/February 1992 of the maga- man). Editions Exergue 2001. Reports of
zine Archeologia. In these articles, Marie- observations of wild, hairy men in Russia. Robert A. Hutchison
Bernard Heuvelmans
Jeanne Koffmann sums up her meticulous
Jean Roche • Sur les traces du yéti (Original title : In the
• Le grand serpent de mer (The big sea and exceptional work on the subject, carried
tracks of the yeti). Editions Robert Laffont
snake). Editions Plon 1965. The reference out over a period of several decades. • Sauvages et velus (Wild and hairy). Edi- 1991. Translated from English by Patrick
book on marine monsters, which analyses tions Exergue 2000. A work of reflexion on Gador, this account reports one of the last
the entire subject with the master’s meticu- Jean-Jacques Barloy the subject of wild men in general, dealing expeditions searching for the yeti. It reports
lousness. at the same time with their behavior and the footprints and many local observations.
• L’homme de Néanderthal est toujours • Les survivants de l’ombre (Survivors of reception given them by human beings. In
vivant (Neandertal man is still alive). Edi- the shadows). Editions Arthaud 1985. One this book a panorama of the main names in Albert-Frédéric Baudrimont
tions Plon 1974, Editions Œil du Sphinx of the most complete books on cryptozoo- the field of cryptozoology can be found.
2011. The first half of the book is by Boris logy. • Le yéti démystifié (The yeti demysti-
Porchnev, a Russian, pioneer in the search • Bernard Heuvelmans, Un rebelle de la Richard D. Nolane fied). Editions Librairie des Pyrénées et de
for wild men, who worked with Marie- science (Bernard Heuvelmans, a scientific Gascogne 2001. An excellent summing-up
Jeanne Koffmann. The second part deals rebel). Editions de l’Oeil du Sphinx 2007. • Sur les traces du yeti et autres créatures concerning the yeti, in which the author be-
with the discovery of the body of a wild man The biography of the father of cryptozoo- clandestines (On the tracks of the yeti and gins by describing in detail its habitat.
by the author, in America, probably impor- logy. other clandestine creatures). Editions Plein
ted from Viet Nam. Essential reading. Sud 1996. A collection of the principal stars Bernard Duhourcau
• Sur la piste des bêtes ignorées (On the Christian Le Noël of cryptozoology.
track of unknown animals). First edition in • Monstres des lacs et des océans • Guide des Pyrénées mystérieuses
two volumes : Edition Plon 1955. Second • La race oubliée (The forgotten race). Edi- (Monsters of the lakes and oceans). Edi- (A guidebook to the mysterious Pyrenees).
edition in four volumes, brought up to date : tions Les Trois Spirales 2002. The author tions Plein Sud 1996. A panorama on the Editions Tchou 1985. This book does not
Editions Famot 1982. The bible which shows us a panorama, in a very recent subject of aquatic cryptids. deal with cryptozoology but, on page 190,
was at the origin of nearly all the callings past, of wild men in France. there is an interesting article concerning
of cryptozoology. The English edition was • La race oubliée 2 (The forgotten Peter Costello monitor lizards having lived there until the
published by Rupert Hart-Davis in 1962 and race 2). Author’s publication to be orde- end of the XIXth century. There are also allu-
has an introduction by Gerald Durrell, and red from AFRC, 2005. A series of reported • A la recherche des monstres lacustres sions to the basajaun, a Basque wild, hairy
Taylor & Francis today. observations concerning wild, hairy men (Original title : In search of lake monsters). man. Allusions to wild men of the Pyrenees
• Les Bêtes humaines d’Afrique (Africa’s (HSV) from throughout the world accompa- Editions Plon 1977. Translated from English are to be found in practically all the books of
human animals). Edition Plon 1980. The nied by personal comments. by Jacques Brécart. Preface by Bernard local legends.
188 189
Associations and magazines Websites
190 191
192