The Emela-Ntouka is a fierce dinosaur living in the Likouala swamp in the Republic of the Congo. His name, Emela-Ntouka, means "killer of elephants." It is about the size of an elephant (sometimes reported to be even bigger), it has a curved horn on it's head, and the sound it makes is compared to a snort, howl, roar, rumble, or growl. It's legs are heavy, and support the body from beneath, it's footprints are the size of an elephant, and it has a heavy crocodile-like tail. It's skin is brownish to gray colored. It has no scales and no hair. Emela-ntouka is semi-aquatic, and comes out at times to feed on vegetation, such as the Malombo plant and other leafy plants. The inhabitants of the area treat Emela-Ntouka with great fear.
In December, 1919, the London Daily Mail published a letter from C.G. James, who had lived in Africa. He reported that an enormous beast with a single ivory horn lived in the waters of Lakes Bangweulu, Mweru, and Tanganyika, as well as the Kafue swamps. James said this animal was called chipekwe by the natives, and that it was reputed to leave tracks similar to, but different than, those of a hippopotamus.
About 1930, an Emela-Ntouka was supposedly killed near Dongou. A planned season 2 episode of the New Zealand documentary World Mysteries included an interview with a man who claimed to have encountered a dead Emela-Ntouka. He claimed to still possess the animal's horn, which he removed from the body. The episode was filmed but never aired. Maybe this is the same Emela-Ntouka that was supposedly killed near Dongou.
J.E. Hughes published his book Eighteen Years on Lake Bangweulu in 1933, in which he reported that an animal that fits the description of an Emela-Ntouka (although not referred to by this name) was slaughtered by Wa-Ushi tribesmen, along the shores of the Luapula River, which connects Lake Bangweulu to Lake Mweru.
The Emela-Ntouka was mentioned by name for the first time in 1954, in an article in the journal Mammalia, authored by former Likouala game inspector Lucien Blancou. He stated that the Emela-Ntouka was "larger than a buffalo" and dwelled throughout the Likouala swamps. It was also Blancou who first mentioned the fact that Emela-Ntoukas will kill elephants, buffaloes or hippos when disturbed, much like the Mokele-Mbembe's allegedly renowned hatred for hippos. While both animals are both supposedly herbivorous, they also are supposed to share a fierce sense of territoriality, and it is for this reason that the pygmies are claimed to "fear it more than any other dangerous animal".
Here is more information on the above report by Lucien Blancou:
Lucien Blancou, chief game inspector in French Equatorial Africa in the 1950's wrote of a ferocious creature in the Congo, larger than a buffalo, that was considered the most dangerous animal by the Kelle pygmies. "...the presence of a beast which sometimes disembowels elephants is also known, but it does not seem to be prevalent there now as in the preceding districts. A specimen was supposed to have been killed twenty years ago at Dongou, but on the left of the Ubangi and in the Belgian Congo." (translated by Heuvelmans, Bernard, On the Track of Unknown Animals, 1959.)
In 1981, American engineer Herman Regusters led his own expedition in search of Mokele-mbembe. He returned with a sound recording of a "low windy roar [that] increased to a deep throated trumpeting growl", which Herman Regusters believed to be the Mokele-mbembe's call. Herman Regusters' conclusions about this tape were later contradicted by Dr. Roy Mackal, who asserted that the Mokele-mbembe did not have a vocal call. Dr. Roy Mackal asserts that vocalizations are more correctly associated with the Emela-ntouka.
Here is the link to Herman Regusters sound recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2-KjHmXbUc.
Sources:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Living Dinosaur? In Search of Mokele-Mbembe Dr. Roy P. Mackal
http://www.genesispark.org/genpark/emela/emela.htm
For more information:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Living Dinosaur? In Search of Mokele-Mbembe Dr. Roy P. Mackal
http://www.genesispark.org/genpark/emela/emela.htm
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/emela-ntouka/
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