Sabertooth Sightings

DINGONEK
A walrus-like creature in the heart of Africa? Such is the description of the dingonek by John Alfred Jordan, an explorer who actually shot at this unidentified monster in the River Maggori in Kenya in 1907. Jordan claimed this scale-covered creature was a big as 18 feet long and had reptilian claws, a spotted back, long tail, and a big head out of which grew large, curved, walrus-like tusks.
Natives of the area further described it as having a scorpion-like tail and reported that it would kill any hippos, crocodiles, or human fisherman that dared encroach on its territory.
This sounds like a fantasy creature, but consider this: At the Brackfontein Ridge in South Africa is a cave painting of an unknown creature that fits the description of the dingonek, right down to its walrus-like tusks. [top]
http://paranormal.about.com/od/othercreatures/a/aa031008_2.htm

Heuvelmans on the other hand says that it might be a type of water-loving, surviving Sabertoothed catparts of central Africa:

At the same time the creature has also been suggested to be a kind of large African otter, a tt of an otter, whereas thewe know as fossils have noticeably short, bobbed-off tails. The story that it has a sting in the tail is also seen in South American "Water Tiger" storiesn told falsely of actual tigers in other places!) but the original idea seems to be borrowed from stingrays, which do indeed have a sting in the tail. Apart from that, we seem to have another instance of the "Southern Walrus" on South African shores (below). And I can vouch for the rock art wanting to show "Viper Fangs" instead of really walrus tusks, the only problem being that the artist wanted to show a wide-open, strikinging mouth, and the lower jaw is simply hard to make out lying against the animal's "Chest"

A Vark Hond, or a Namibian Hogzilla?

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/244107/82/Hybrid-Dog-Headed-Pig-Terrorizes-Africa

Hybrid Dog Headed Pig Terrorizes Africa

NAMIBIA -- Residents in northern Namibia, on the southwest coast of Africa, have reported being terrorized by a bizarre dog-pig hybrid creature.
The animal is said to be mostly white and unlike anything the villagers have ever seen, with a doglike head and the broad, round, nearly hairless back and shoulders of a giant pig.
The beast was spotted chasing and attacking dogs, goats and other domestic animals in this arid region not far from the Kalahari desert.
As often happens when rumors of monsters spread in rural areas around the world, some locals have taken extra safety precautions, such as traveling in groups and arming themselves with weapons.
In 1995 and 1996, some Puerto Ricans armed themselves against the vampire beast el chupacabra; last year, Malaysian residents patrolled the streets searching for the mysterious orang minyak, or "oily man" creature that had recently terrorized them.
What could this monster be? One Namibian official, regional councilor Andreas Mundjindi, was quoted in Informante newspaper as saying, "This is an alien animal that the people have not seen before. We don't have a forest here, only bushes. So, this must be black magic at play."

Some people in the area trace the beast to one old man rumored to be a warlock or witch doctor, suggesting it's his pet (or, what witch-hunters hundreds of years ago would have called a "familiar").
The assumption that the beast has magical origins is not surprising. A 2010 Gallup poll found belief in magic widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with more than half of respondents saying they personally believe in witchcraft and sorcery.
This is not the first time that unusual animals have been spotted in rural areas of Namibia; several other monsters have been reported over the years, including in July 2009, when unknown creatures reportedly sucked the blood out of livestock, including nearly two dozen goats.
Though no one saw the monsters, they were said to have left footprints similar to those of a dog, but much larger. Police followed the footprints, but they mysteriously stopped in an open field, as if the creature suddenly took flight or vanished.
At that time, locals were also convinced that the strange beast was the product of black magic - going so far as to accuse an old man and his sister of conjuring the creature.
It's not clear whether locals believe that the current dog-headed, pig-bodied animal is the same mystery creature that terrorized the region three years ago.
Whether the reports are real or rumor, hopefully belief in these creatures won't be used as an excuse for mob attacks on elderly men and women suspected of witchcraft.

--In this case it seems quite obvious to me that what we have is a quite ordinary feral hog with mixed pig-boar characteristics, a round body short on hair that looks like a domesticated pig and a long-snouted head with large fangs like a wild boar's head that reminds local people of a dog's head. Please bear in mind most of the locals would only have SEEN domesticated swine and the sight of a wild boar's head would probably come as a shock to most of them.

At left, Wild boar cross with "Doglike" fangs: at right, wild boar cross with thinner hair on body.


And the 2009 "Apparition" (if it should be called such) was once again a case of feral dogs at work and leaving recognizable dog tracks. Calling it a "Chupacabras attack" would be as wrong as any other time such feral dog attacks would be called "Chupacabras", but at least it would be consistent.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

2nd coelacanth population found off Tanzania coast

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/T111108004421.htm

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A team of Japanese researchers has discovered a hitherto unknown population of coelacanths, a fish species known as a "living fossil," off southeast Africa.
The researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology and other entities said the newly found breeding group of coelacanths linked to the site has existed for more than 200,000 years without genetic contact with other groups.
Researchers had believed there was only one breeding group of the species off Africa.
The team published the results in an online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States.
Coelacanths have been found only in the sea off Africa and Indonesia. In Africa, an area in the sea around the Comoros Islands near Madagascar is home to the only previously known population of the fish.
Tokyo Institute of Technology Prof. Norihiro Okada and his colleagues analyzed genes of more than 20 coelacanths caught off Tanga, northern Tanzania, and nearby sites. The areas are nearly 1,000 kilometers north-northwest of the Comoros Islands.
The results showed the fish belong to a population genetically distinct from that off Comoros Islands.
The two groups seem to have separated 200,000 to 2 million years ago, the researchers said.
Considering the number of fish caught, the researchers assume the newly discovered population may comprise hundreds of coelacanths near the site.

(Nov. 10, 2011)