Cryptids – Mokele Mbembe
Published by Article number four concerning cryptids, creatures that may or may not exist! WARNING: What you are about to read may sound disturbing.
Deep in the heart of Africa, the dark continent, the cradle of mankind, lies a vast swampy jungle. In the nation of Congo specifically near and in lake Tele there have been reports of a terrifying monster since 1776, when a french missionary reported huge clawed footprints in the area. Footprints that the local pygmies say belong to the Mokele Mbembe!
Picture via mokelembembe.com
Mokele Mbember means “one who stops the flow of rivers” and this cryptozoological animal is truly fascinating. The locals describe the animal as being big, having a long strong tail and a long neck. This description doesn’t match any creature alive today, but incredibly enough the description fits perfectly that of sauropod dinosaurs. But the last dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago and no bones or other concrete proof has been found to support that they have survived into our time. The locals describe the creature as both aggressive and illusive. The locals can even tell you what kind of fruit it eats, what colour it is (reddish brown) and other things in detail, which make it seem like they’re describing a real animal not just a creature from folklore. But the idea of a living undiscovered population of dinosaurs is so grotesque that hardly any scientific minded person can believe in the existence of this creature.
But could there be other explanations for the Mokele Mbembe other than it could be a dinosaur that has evaded extinction? Some believe that the Mokele Mbembe is some sort of large reptile, perhaps an unknown type of monitor lizard. Others believe that the sightings are simply cases of misidentification. They claim that the rhinoceros or elephant could be the culprit behind many of the sightings. This is a likely explanation in atleast some of the cases, since the rhinoceros doesn’t live in the Congo Basin and when a group of pygmies were shown a picture of a rhino in the BBC/Discovery Channel documentary Congothey claimed it was a Mokele Mbembe. So is the Mokele Mbembe a living dinosaur or simply a rhino? Maybe time will tell…
Read about other mysterious cryptids:
El Chupacabra
Loch Ness Monster
Nandi Bear
Mokele Mbembe
Bigfoot
Beast of Gévaudan
Megalania
The Mothman
The Ropen
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On November 12, 2011 at 2:05 pm
How interesting! I think more research is required though, and since the rhinos dont live in that region how could it be one?
On November 12, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Hi David, I agree. More research definately need to be done! And I think that maybe it could be a case of folk-memory from a time where rhinos DID live in the region. I’m glad you found this interesting!