Nandi bear

Last updated
Nandi Bear
Sub grouping Bear
Other name(s)Chemosit, Kerit, Koddoelo, Ngoelo, Ngoloko, Duba
Country Kenya

In east African folklore, the Nandi bear is a creature said to live in East Africa. [1] [2] It takes its name from the Nandi people who live in western Kenya, in the area the Nandi Bear is reported from. It is also known as Chemosit, [1] Kerit, Koddoelo, Ngoloko, or Duba (which derives from the Arabic words dubb or d.abʕ / d.abuʕ for 'bear' and 'hyena' respectively [3] ).

Contents

The Samburu "Nkampit" appears also to be a version of this creature.

Description

Descriptions of the Nandi bear are of a ferocious, powerfully built carnivore with high front shoulders (over four feet tall) and a sloping back. Stories of the Nandi bear state that it is fierce, nocturnal, stands on its hind legs and can kill animals. [4] Charles William Hobley authored a diagram of its supposed foot in 1913. [4] [5]

The Nandi people call it "kerit". Local legend holds that the Nandi bear has reddish hair, long feet and is said to scalp people. [1] In 1961, Gardner Soule noted that sightings were reported in Kenya throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, but it "never has been caught or identified". [6] Sightings of the Nandi bear decreased over time. In 1905, Richard Meinertzhagen speculated that it may have been an "anthropoid ape now extinct on account of decreased rainfall." [7]

Scientific evaluation

Nandi bear illustration, 1961. Nandi bear 1961.png
Nandi bear illustration, 1961.

There is no scientific evidence that the Nandi bear exists. [2] [8] Alleged sightings are suggested to be misidentification of known species. [2] [8] [9]

In 1923, Charles William Andrews suggested that the Nandi bear may be a surviving representative of the extinct Chalicothere. [10] In the 1930s, Louis Leakey suggested that Nandi Bear descriptions matched that of the Chalicothere, though chalicotheres were herbivores. [11] The Chalicothere hypothesis was later abandoned. In 2000, paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs commented that "if chalicotheres existed now, they would have been found out just like the giant forest hog was." [2] He concluded that "if there is anything to the Nandi-bear story besides imagination, I suspect it may be the word-of-mouth description of gorillas passed across the continent from areas where they live to areas where they do not." [2]

Zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock claimed that reports of the Nandi bear were misidentified hyenas, specifically the spotted hyena. [9] In 1932, the British Natural History Museum stated that many reports of the Nandi Bear have "proved to have been nothing more than a spotted hyena." [12] Vice versa, paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson commented that the Nandi bear "turned out to be in most if not all cases a ratel [honey-badger], an animal which had been known to scientific zoologists since 1776." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Leakey</span> British archaeologist and naturalist (1903–1972)

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai Gorge with his wife, fellow palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey. Having established a programme of palaeoanthropological inquiry in eastern Africa, he also motivated many future generations to continue this scholarly work. Several members of the Leakey family became prominent scholars themselves.

<i>Pellucidar</i> Fictional Hollow Earth invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Leakey</span> Kenyan conservationist (1944–2022)

Richard Erskine Frere Leakey was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conservation. He was Director of the National Museum of Kenya, founded the NGO WildlifeDirect, and was the chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service. Leakey served in the powerful office of cabinet secretary and head of public service during the tail end of President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dian Fossey</span> American primatologist and conservationist (1932–1985)

Dian Fossey was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Gorillas in the Mist, a book published two years before her death, is Fossey's account of her scientific study of the gorillas at Karisoke Research Center and prior career. It was adapted into a 1988 film of the same name.

Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence and cultural evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Striped hyena</span> Species of hyena

The striped hyena is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus Hyaena. It is listed by the IUCN as near-threatened, as the global population is estimated to be under 10,000 mature individuals which continues to experience deliberate and incidental persecution along with a decrease in its prey base such that it may come close to meeting a continuing decline of 10% over the next three generations.

The marozi is a name given to a type of spotted feline similar to a lion but with leopard-like spots, which was sighted in Kenya in the early 20th century. Skins of hunted specimens fitting the description do exist, but have not been sufficient for biologists to come to any definite conclusion regarding the nature of the animal. The general consensus is that the mazori is a colour morph of a known subspecies of lion, perhaps involving individuals that retained juvenile spots into adulthood.

<i>Paranthropus boisei</i> Extinct species of hominin of East Africa

Paranthropus boisei is a species of australopithecine from the Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.5 to 1.15 million years ago. The holotype specimen, OH 5, was discovered by palaeoanthropologist Mary Leakey in 1959 at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania and described by her husband Louis a month later. It was originally placed into its own genus as "Zinjanthropus boisei", but is now relegated to Paranthropus along with other robust australopithecines. However, it is also argued that Paranthropus is an invalid grouping and synonymous with Australopithecus, so the species is also often classified as Australopithecus boisei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorillas in popular culture</span>

Representations of gorillas are common in popular culture in the Western world with the full range of electronic media having gorillas as mascots, gorillas behaving like humans, and humans behaving like gorillas.

<i>Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle</i> Animated television series

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is an American animated series created by the Filmation studio for Saturday mornings on CBS, starting in 1976. This was the first animated series about the jungle hero. There are 36 episodes produced over four seasons.

<i>Gorillas in the Mist</i> 1988 film by Michael Apted

Gorillas in the Mist is a 1988 American biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by Anna Hamilton Phelan and a story by Phelan and Tab Murphy. The film is based a book of the same name by Dian Fossey and the article by Harold T. P. Hayes. It stars Sigourney Weaver as naturalist Dian Fossey and Bryan Brown as photographer Bob Campbell. It tells the story of Fossey, who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museums of Kenya</span> Kenyan state corporation

The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversity research and conservation. Its headquarters and the National Museum are located on Museum Hill, near Uhuru Highway between Central Business District and Westlands in Nairobi. The National Museum of Kenya was founded by the East Africa Natural History Society (E.A.N.H.S.) in 1910; the society's main goal has always been to conduct an ongoing critical scientific examination of the natural attributes of the East African habitat. The museum houses collections, and temporary and permanent exhibits. Today the National Museum of Kenya manages over 22 regional museums, many sites, and monuments across the country.

The Trimates, sometimes called Leakey's Angels, is a name given to three women — Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas — chosen by anthropologist Louis Leakey to study primates in their natural environments. They studied chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, respectively.

<i>Jungle Tales of Tarzan</i> Short story collection by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Jungle Tales of Tarzan is a collection of twelve loosely connected short stories by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, comprising the sixth book in order of publication in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. Chronologically the events recounted in it occur within Chapter 11 of the first Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes, between Tarzan's avenging of his ape foster mother's death and his becoming leader of his ape tribe. The stories ran monthly in Blue Book magazine, September 1916 through August 1917 before book publication in 1919.

<i>Tarzan the Terrible</i> 1921 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan the Terrible is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the eighth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. The story was first published as a serial in the pulp magazine Argosy All-Story Weekly in the issues for February 12, 19, and 26 and March 5, 12, 19, and 26, 1921; the first book edition was published in June 1921 by A. C. McClurg. Its setting, Pal-ul-don, is one of the more thoroughly realized "lost civilizations" in Burroughs' Tarzan stories. The novel contains a map of the place as well as a glossary of its inhabitants' language.

The dingonek is a creature said to have been seen near Lake Victoria in 1907 by big game hunter John Alfred Jordan and members of his hunting party, as recounted by fellow big-game hunter Edgar Beecher Bronson in his 1910 memoir In Closed Territory. This account was followed by an article published in 1913 in the East Africa Natural History Society by Charles William Hobley, in which he claims to have encountered further accounts of similarly described creatures. In 1918, an article published by MacLean's declared that the beast was a newly discovered animal species.

The Nandi Resistance was a military conflict that took place in present-day Kenya between 1890 and 1906. It involved members of the Kalenjin ethnic group, mainly from the Nandi section, and the British colonial administration. The close of the 19th century, a time referred to as the "pacification period" by Matson, saw a number of local populations that resisted British colonial rule. Of these, the Nandi resistance would stand out for being the longest and most tenacious.

Kalenjin folklore consists of folk tales, legends, songs, music, dancing, popular beliefs, and traditions communicated by the Kalenjin-speaking communities, often passed down the generations by word of mouth.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Huntingford, G. W. B. (1927). "Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Nandi and Kony Tribes". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland . 57: 417–461. doi:10.2307/2843712. JSTOR   2843712.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jacobs, Louis L. (2000). Quest for the African Dinosaurs: Ancient Roots of the Modern World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 250. ISBN   0-8018-6481-X
  3. ↑ Hans Wehr (edited by J. Milton Cowan): A dictionary of modern written Arabic, ed. 3, Ithaca, N.Y., 1971, Spoken Language Services, Inc.
  4. 1 2 Journals and Magazines. The Lancet , 1914.
  5. ↑ Hobley, C. W. (1913). On Some Unidentified Beasts. Journal of the East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society 6: 48–52.
  6. ↑ Soule, Gardener (December 1961). "Nandi Bear". Boys' Life . Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ Meinertzhagen, Richard. (1983). Kenya Diary (1902-1906). Eland Books. p. 206
  8. 1 2 3 Simpson, George Gaylord (1984). "Mammals and Cryptozoology". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society . 128 (1): 1–19. JSTOR   986487.
  9. 1 2 Pocock, Reginald I. (1930). The Story of the Nandi Bear. Natural History Magazine 2: 162–169.
  10. ↑ Wayland, E. J. (1934). Rifts, Rivers, Rains and Early Man in Uganda. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 64: 333–352.
  11. ↑ Leakey, Louis S. (November 2, 1935). Does the Chalicothere—Contemporary of the Okapi— Still Survive?. Illustrated London News 187: 730–733.
  12. ↑ Game Animals of the Empire. The Trustees of the British Museum, 1932. p. 46
  13. ↑ Jackson, Steve; Livingstone, Ian (1985). Out of the Pit. Fighting Fantasy Monsters. Puffin. p. 222. ISBN   0-14-034131-5.
  14. ↑ Hitchcock, Tim. "Chemosit". d20pfsrd. Pathfinder Advetures Path. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.