Mokele-Mbembe

The Mokele Mbembe - ( Lingala: Mokɛle - mbɛmbe ) is a mythical creature, is this in the jungles of Central Africa (Congo) live.

In the resident around the lake Télé tribe of pygmies in the Congo Basin of Bangombe his reputation is ( Mokele Mbembe - - " stops the flow of the river " ) is legendary. According to the reports of the Pygmies and traditions Mokele Mbembe, said to have attacked the fishermen of the tribe in their light canoes.

Description

Mokele Mbembe - elephants should be large in some, but also reports of even larger animals exist. It should be a four-legged creatures that resemble the footprints where hippos and their toes should have three claws. It is a long neck with about thirty centimeters in diameter, a relatively small head, which should have in male specimens of a horn or a horn-like extension ( as is, for example, in some recent reptiles the case) have and a long tail. The essence is to resemble a sauropod. It should be a herbivore, but the people who enter his territory, attacking and optionally kills, but never eats. The skin color of the Mokele Mbembe - to reddish- brown vary from brownish - gray to.

Expeditions

The first written report about Mokele Mbembe - comes from the French missionary Abbe Liévin Bonaventure Proyart. In his 1776 published book about travel in the Congo region, he tells of a strange creature whose footprints are said to have had a circumference of one meter.

The German Ludwig Freiherr von Stein to Lausnitz was the first foreigner to the Likouala -aux- herbes specifically collected reports of Mokele Mbembe - on an expedition in 1913 in the river basin. The indigenous Pygmies showed him a path that is said to have the nature pulled through the jungle.

In the years 1920-1935 there should have been several sightings of various eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen a creature with a long, snake -like neck, stubby legs and a bulky body.

1954 is an English tourist in Bangweulusee a long neck with snake- like head out of the water have seen, and in the sixties of the 20th century is a big-game hunter go near the Likouala -aux- herbes River a large animal from water to land seen have, the description applies to Mokele Mbembe -.

From October to December 1980 to have been perceived by the German couple Herman and Kia Regusters vocalizations and more mysterious water movements caused by a large animal.

In the same year the scientists and cryptozoologists Roy P. Mackal, James Powell, Richard Greenwell and Justin Wilkinson carried out two expeditions to the Congo to investigate the up to two hundred years, reaching back reports of Mokele Mbembe. They collected eyewitness accounts, legends and myths about the legendary creature and came to the conclusion that resembled many of the descriptions.

In 1983, the biologist Marcellin Agnagna wants in Lake Tele have observed several Mokele Mbembe - for several minutes. However, evidence such as film footage he could not have due to an alleged incorrect setting his video camera, the fact that he changed his reports afterwards several times, gave rise to doubts about his credibility.

In September 1992, a Japanese research team claims to have filmed from an airplane an unknown, swimming animal in the lake. The poor-quality, 15 -second video recording shows a long-necked creature that crosses the lake and had to identify, in the opinion of the Mokele - Mbembe as Japanese. What is, however, acted, could not be found, it could have been also a large floating Python.

In 2006, an expedition of cryptozoologists Milt Marcy, Peter Beach, Rob Mullin should bring clarity about the existence or non-existence of Mokele Mbembe - to Congo. After her return, she could however not demonstrate, as a supposed plaster cast of a footprint of Mokele Mbembe -.

Scientific explanations

Since a single animal would die sooner or later (off), it would be mandatory for a viable population of these animals in Mokele Mbembe -. This raises the question of what it might actually act in the Mokele Mbembe -.

Some of the eye -witness accounts and legends can certainly be attributed to confusion with well-known animals. This could arise, for instance, the sighting of Marcellin Agnagna from 1983 also on the large African softshell turtle Trionyx triunguis.

Various other extant species have been performed by cryptozoologists and zoologists, which could have led to a misinterpretation of some of the sightings or tracks: eg with the Nile crocodile, hippos, rhinos or the West African manatee ( Trichechus senegalensis ).

According to another theory it should be, for Mokele - Mbembe to one of today's surviving dinosaur of the order of the sauropods. Sauropods have some basic physical features in common: a relatively small head, a very long neck, a long tail. All sauropods walked on four stout legs and were digitigrade, similar to today's elephants. Leave the descriptions of Mokele Mbembe - at least to this theoretical interpretation.

The problem is that so far no carcasses, bones or similar relics were found, suggesting a survival of a Sauropodenordnung to the present.