ArtRojasDesign

Pat is on the hunt for the Swamp Monster of the Congo. Perhaps it could be described as another version of Nessie, but this time it’s in the dense jungle. Could there be a creature hiding in the jungle that’s responsible for several deaths and striking fear into the villagers? Pat talks with several eyewitnesses to find out. Its name is Mokele-mbembe.

He talks to a man who says he saw the footprint and even caught a glimpse of the animal. Another takes him to the location where he saw Mokele-mbembe. As he gives details Pat thinks the animal could have been a very large crocodile. The villager seems almost offended by the insinuation. He knows the difference between a crocodile and Mokele-mbembe. While scouting this location he sets up trap cameras to see if he gets pictures of anything crossing the river where the sighting took place.

Another witness tells the story of his grandfather being killed by the creature while he was out fishing. The boat was broken in half and his grandfather died. The details are sketchy and the story seems a little hard to believe. All the stories up to this point lack detail and have no real evidence to support them. It’s really coming across as the stuff of legend and stories that have been handed down.

But the men of the village are going to prove they know the jungle and the creatures in it so they set up a hunting party and take Pat out to show him the animals. They want him to know this isn’t a case of mistaken identity.

They leave little doubt about their animal prowess so Pat takes out his iPad and goes through a picture lineup. They are very familiar with the animals he shows, but it’s the dinosaur that gets the most reaction. The villagers say that’s Mokele-mbembe and it’s what they’ve been seeing.

Just to give it a try, Pat heads out into the jungle with a thermal imager to see what he can find. There are lots of animals noises but nothing that would suggest Mokele-mbembe. At the end of the night he goes to check his trap cameras and find that elephants use this path to cross the river. Then the idea dawns on him, if villagers were to see an elephant crossing the river with just its back and trunk showing, would that be Mokele-mbembe? It would have many characteristics that people describe. And in the dark, making all that noise, perhaps covered in mud and hidden by trees would it look more dinosaur like?

In the end it could simply be a case of mistaken identity. Villagers are seeing elephants either in the river or walking through the jungle and become frightened. If they aren’t expecting it, it could be mistaken for a dinosaur. And the footprints could be distorted enough to appear different than an elephant.

But the jungle has hidden many packs of animals. Gorillas hid from many quite happily for decades until very recently so it is possible something much bigger is still waiting in the jungle to be discovered.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Cannibal Village and Kapre – S05E03
• Beast Hunter – Man Ape of Sumatra (Orang Pendek) – S01E01
• Beast Hunter – Sea Serpent of the North – S01E04
• Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Haboro/Mngwa – S04E03
• Destination Truth – Spirits of Tikal and Creature From the Black Lagoon – S05E05
• Beast Hunter – Nightmare of the Amazon – S01E02
• Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
• 432 Abercorn, Savannah GA
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03

For this adventure Pat heads to the Amazon to investigate the "Nightmare of the Amazon" or the Mapinguari. It’s a huge animal with powerful arms, big claws, a horrible stench and a mouth that may actually be in its chest. Over the years it has become a fixed part of the culture for many. And for some it has changed their lives.

Pat starts off the hunt by talking with locals who believe they actually shot the animal. It was lurking around their village and when they thought it was out to eat their livestock they shot at it. Right after that the villagers moved away and relocated to what they thought was a safer place by the river. It isn’t clear if this was their first sighting or perhaps one of many.

As Pat talks with more natives he understands that outsiders aren’t to be trusted. He doesn’t have the time it would take to develop a relationship over weeks or months so he decides to participate in the initiation ritual of men who will become hunters. This involves hunting for the Bullet Ant which has a potent sting. And not just one ant, but hundreds. Those ants are then woven into a set of gloves the initiate will wear for five minutes. Then the initiate will endure the pain.

Things don’t go fantastically well for Pat. He goes through with the initiation, but the pain is to the point of being overwhelming. He can’t think straight, he’s not entirely sure where he is and doesn’t know what to do to endure the suffering. He seems a little delusional. He might even be hallucinating. Whatever is going on, he’s having a rough time with it.

We catch back up with Pat quite a bit later after the pain the delusions have worn off. What happened during that time we don’t know. I’m sure they weren’t planning for him to stick his hands in a bucket full of venom so who knows if they had any sort of antidote.

But Pat presses on and meets a man who says he was attacked by the Mapinguari. He claims it grabbed him around the throat and broke his jaw. He feels certain it could have killed him and that he would have died if people hadn’t found him quickly. The details of the attack are pretty light. And there is nothing from the people who found him. However, he has never been back in the forest and left his job. Something seems to have changed him.

Pat begins to think that maybe a giant anteater is the cause of the problems. It can attack, it is able to emit a stench and has some of the other reported characteristics. But is the entire country mistaking an anteater for all their attacks?

Pat finds a professor who believes it exists. He’s taken eyewitness statements from nearly 90 people. Some even claim to have killed it. David Orem believes it might be a giant Ground Sloth, a beast that is 10 feet tall with huge claws and massive teeth. The Sloth lived in the area and only died out recently, and by recently he means 10,000 years ago.

Pat meets with another tribe that tells story of the Mapinguari. People firmly believe it exists and people only go into the forest with a silver bullet which is said to kill the beast.

When with the tribe, Pat heads into the forest with thermal imager and megaphone. His plan is to play sounds of animals and see if he can get a response. He even has what he believes is the call of the Mapinguari. As they play the calls there is a response that sounds similar to what they are sending out. Are they getting a true response or just stirring up the forest?

As a final experiment he shows a witness a series of photos on his iPad. The witness is unfamiliar with some animals, since they aren’t native to his area but recognizes some of the others. Even the anteater is recognized but he doesn’t think too much of it. But when it comes to the giant sloth he gets a positive reaction from his witness. He says something that is very similar to the animal in the picture is what attacked him. He believes something very similar is out there.

So what does Pat come away with? There are dozens of stories of people who’ve had experiences and belief in the creature is very strong. Is there a Giant Sloth still lurking out in the forest? Has it managed to survived? Is a relative still calling the forest a home? It lends a lot of credibility to the idea that the Mapinguari is a real creature. Since so much of the area is actually unexplored it is possible that a descendent is alive and well.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Beast Hunter – Man Ape of Sumatra (Orang Pendek) – S01E01
• Haunted Highway – Beast of Bray Road and Tonopah Mine – S02E03
• Beast Hunter – Mongolian Death Worm – S01E05
• Beast Hunter – Sea Serpent of the North – S01E04
• Destination Truth – Guam Zombies & Fangalobolo – S04E08
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
• Expedition Unknown – The Japanese Atlantis – S02E09
• Haunted Highway – Bear Lake Beast and Vergas Hairy Man – S01E01
• Expedition Unknown – Jesse James – S01E04
• Haunted Highway – Lake Murray Beast and The Donner Party – S02E04