Legend of the mysterious beast in Africa

Rumors of a strange, giant animal in the Congo made adventurers make several dozen trips to Africa since the 19th century.

>>> The secret of monsters

In the 80s of the last century, Dr. Roy Mackal, a biologist at the University of Chicago in the US, led two expeditions to the vast Likouala swamp and the rainforest area of ​​the Congo to search for an animal. The mystery is called Mokele-mbembe. People call it 'Africa's Loch Ness monster , ' BBC said.

"At that time the swamp area of ​​Likouala and the Congo rainforest were like the end of the world. When you get there you will feel like you are living in prehistoric times," Mackal recalls.

It is said that Mokele-mbembe is shaped like a giant reptile with a long neck and tail.

Although not eating meat, it often bellowed if humans approached. Some say it has a horn and it's a weapon to kill elephants.

Mokele-mbembe sketch drawing according to witnesses. (Graphic: BBC)

Mackal had hoped he would discover an animal that scientists had never known.

Scientists have made 50 expeditions to the Congo to search for Mokele-mbembe, but they still have no convincing evidence of its existence, except for a large footprint of a clawed animal. a French missionary found it in 1776. The photos of the animal were quite faint and could not prove anything. But the number of mysterious monster stories is pretty much.

'That day our boat was swimming in the river when Mokele-mbembe rose. He chased after the boat and we had to flee, ' a man told the BBC.

Paul Ohlin, a community developer who has lived for more than 10 years in Congo and Central Africa, says people living around the Likouala marsh and rainforest believe that Mokele-mbembe exists.

'When indigenous people sit around the fire, they talk about Mokele-mbembe like something real in everyday life. They have a spiritual connection with it, ' Ohlin said.

Adam Davies, a British citizen who regularly travels the world searching for strange creatures, has been to Africa twice to hunt down Mokele-mbembe. He said that listeners should not believe every detail in animal stories.

'The stories of Mokele-mbembe are covered by countless mythological details , ' he explained.

Many experts believe that the majority of mysterious animals exist only in the imagination of humans. But some people point out that the scientific community has proven the existence of some animals that are thought to be 'products of imagination'.

For example, in the 1980s, many people said they saw a strange animal like a donkey in the Congo. It has hooves and stripes on the legs.

It was not until 1901 that scientists had authentic evidence of an animal's existence. It's okapi, a relative of giraffes.

'I put Mokele-mbembe on the list of animals that can't be found, like the Loch Ness monster. My intuition told me that the possibility of it exists is very small , 'said Bill Laurance, conservation biology professor at James Cook University in Australia.

But Laurence also stressed that the first thing scientists need to remember is: Every possibility is possible."People are constantly discovering new species , " he said.