Cave lion, face reconstruction.
The Cave Lion of the Crusades?
Osama ibn Munkyz, a contemporary of the Crusades, a very authoritative witness and active participant in many events of this era, in his memoirs "Book of Edification" describes the following case:
“I heard, but did not see myself, that among wild animals there are leopards. I did not believe this, but Sheikh Imam Hujjat ad-Din Abu Hashim Muhammad ibn Zafar (may Allah have mercy on him) told me the following: “I. I was driving west with an old servant who still belonged to my father, who traveled a lot and experienced a lot. All the water that was with us came out, and we suffered from thirst. There was no one else with us, and we were alone - he and I - riding two camels.
We saw a well on the road and headed towards it, but found a leopard sleeping near it. We withdrew to the side, and my companion got off his camel, gave me the reins, took his sword, shield and wineskin that was with us, and said to me: "Look behind the camel's head." He went to the well, and when the leopard saw him, he got up and jumped in the direction of him, but rushed past and roared. His females rushed to him with their cubs, who ran, catching up with him. He no longer got in our way and did no harm. We got drunk and watered the animals, and then we went on. " So he told me, may Allah have mercy on him, and he was one of the best Muslims in his religiosity and learning."
The source of information (Khujjat ad-Din and so on) is indeed a very authoritative scholar in the Muslim world, who is well known to modern orientalists.
The term "leopard" is suggested here by the translator, as they say, at random: it is not a leopard (which is described separately in the Book of Edification), and even less a snow leopard. The creature, apparently, is large and dangerous, since an experienced warrior did not dare to tempt fate, and since Ibn Munkyz himself, also an extremely experienced warrior and hunter (including lions!), Speaks of him in a similar tone …
Of the known species, only the tiger is such, but in the Middle East, the tiger is clearly a cryptozoological character; and the leopard's habits are not tiger's (he, like a lion, leads the pride - a family group).
Maybe a cave lion? In height and fighting qualities, this animal surpassed even the largest tiger. And at least in Mongolia and Manchuria, he probably lived up to the times of antiquity and, perhaps, even the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the long-standing, but still "post-glacial" petroglyphs, sculptures by Chinese masters, and information about the so-called "Scythian wolf" …
If so, then in this case, the "leopard" is fixed as if halfway from Asia to Africa. In modern Africa, perhaps a similar crypto-species is noted: "nunda", she is "mngwa". Little is known about this predator, information about which comes mainly from the territory of present-day Tanzania - but, according to local residents, it is a much stronger and more ferocious beast than a lion!
The Exmoor Beast: Not a Dog, and Not a Baskerville
Information about encounters with "mysterious animals" of all sorts in British lands is quite frequent, but, as a rule, it is explained by natural reasons. The fact is that the typical reaction of a casual observer - they say, this is some exotic animal that escaped from the zoo - is unfair for the vast majority of countries, in England it may turn out to be close to the truth. For a good two hundred years, the large landowners there have had a fashion of decorating their vast estates with "living exhibits" from all over the world. These animals are kept, as a rule, not in cages, but in "park" conditions - so they often really have the opportunity to escape and survive in a relatively mild British climate.
Another thing is that such "imported fugitives" can still be related to cryptozoology!
Two English counties, Exmoor and Surrey, became the center of the most mysterious rumors. Allegedly, from time to time there were strange attacks on pasture cattle, which are almost impossible to correlate with the actions of ordinary predators. Strictly speaking, there are none of those in England: the wolf, lynx and bear have long been destroyed, and the fox does not attack adult sheep or goats.
In Surrey, gnawed sheep were "butchered" mainly in a way that more closely resembled the attack of large cats. Eyewitness observations from the 1920s to the 1980s also make one think about the representatives of the feline family. Some observers even managed to determine their species: according to them, it could only be about … the North American cougar! Once she was even photographed.
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Since the 1970s, in Great Britain - albeit not in the aforementioned counties - a number of "imported" cats, from lynxes to leopards, have been hunted, sometimes even alive. There is also one puma among them, so the riddle of Surrey, apparently, can be considered solved (although one of the mysterious cats turned out to be a previously unknown, if not a species, then a subspecies of the European wild cat - so it was not without cryptozoology!) But about Exmoor cannot say that.
Unlike Surrey, the mysterious predator could not be seen in Exmoor County. It was possible to draw conclusions only on the basis of an analysis of the remains of his prey. The best researched series of victims of the Exmoor Beast, who died in 1983. These are all sheep. All of them, according to experts, were bitten and eaten in a canine rather than a cat manner. And again, in all cases, the "style of work" was similar, but not identical to the actions of a wolf (this animal may also be "imported") or stray dogs.
Who else can attack the sheep?
Oddly enough, such a predator is found in Great Britain (not England!), Or rather, it was. This is the Falkland wolf-like fox Disicion australis: an animal, in size, strength and appearance, occupying exactly an intermediate place between the ordinary fox and the wolf. It lives (or rather, lived), as the name suggests, on the extreme outskirts of British possessions, the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina.
It was Darwin who wrote about discourse as an example of a bizarre model of island evolution. However, it was in the years when Origin of Species was being created that sheep breeding began to develop in the Falklands - and local farmers instantly took up arms against wolf-like foxes, which in fact regularly diversified their menu with mutton. As a result, this species, which lived in a limited area and never learned to beware of humans (previously, because of its low-value gray fur, it was not hunted), soon found itself completely exterminated. In the wild, the last Falkland fox was killed back in 1876 …
And not in the wild? Do we have the right to assume that wolf-like foxes, which were no less exotic creatures for British collectors, but more accessible than large cats (after all, the Falkland Islands are not even abroad!), Could have been brought to the metropolis? Then they could successfully repeat the path of "park" pumas and lynxes - that is, get free and, inevitably learning to be careful, form an isolated population!
At the end of the 19th century in England there were several attacks on sheep committed by … foxes! In all the sketches illustrating these events, the "attacking side" is shown very large, and most importantly - gray. All these are typical features of the genus Disicion. And at the same time, these signs are not striking enough for an unskilled observer (a farmer or even a hunter who has not been to the Falklands). So the "fugitive" disclosure may well be mistaken for such "doubles" as an ordinary fox or a stray dog!
An unknown horrilloid from the Congo jungle
This sensation was first "announced" six years ago and since then has been widely circulated - but received no additional confirmation or refutation. So it makes sense to carefully analyze the primary sources again. Moreover, they are far from known to everyone.
So the first source is an unnamed online BBC / Nature article entitled "New giant ape found in DR Congo." It links to the authoritative English journal New Scientist, allegedly in early October 2004 published a message about this new species of primates - although such a publication could not be found in the online editions of this magazine.
According to the BBC / Nature author, animals have been found in the north of the Congo that combine the traits of a gorilla and a chimpanzee. According to the stories of local residents, they are able to kill even a lion. These monkeys reach two meters in height, are built like gorillas and, like them, build their nests on the ground, not in trees. But they live hundreds of kilometers from known gorilla populations, and their diet is close to that of chimpanzees.
It is believed that the only scientist who saw these monkeys was the primatologist Shelley Williams. According to her, she even filmed them. Her description of the meeting with them sounds like this: “Four individuals ran out of the thickets right at me. This was not a "demonstrative" attack, accompanied by loud screams, calculated to frighten the pursuers. No: these jumped out in silence, with the clear intent to kill. They were huge. I was right in their path, but when they examined me, they stopped and silently disappeared into the bushes."
Scientists offer various explanations for their nature: giant chimpanzees that behave like gorillas; gorilla and chimpanzee hybrids (modern science, however, is not clear whether such crossing is possible); and, finally, a new species of higher apes. In the latter case, it will become the most important zoological discovery for many decades.
One way or another, speculations about their biological status are still groundless - and only new expeditions to the North Congo can clarify this issue (which, as indicated in the article, were planned for the near future - but something about them is still not heard …).
Another original source is Michael Hanlon's article "Scientists Verify Information about a New Species of Gorillas" published in the Daily News on November 4, 2004 on page 13. The author first presents information from New Scientist and some general considerations about objects of cryptozoology, and then goes on to "Super gorillas". According to Hanlon, their existence is supported by an increasing amount of evidence: in addition to the testimony of a respected primatologist, there are photographs, videos, and even DNA samples. Shelley Williams' story (working in conjunction with the famous Jane Goodall Institute) is more expanded:
“They have a very flat face, a wide mouth and nose area, and heavily overhanging eyebrows. Their fur seems to acquire a silvery coloration at a very early age, and, unlike silver-backed gorillas, their whole body is colored like that."
It is further reported that studies of a new species of gorillas were started in 1996 by the Swiss journalist Karl Ammann after he heard from local residents about 700 km from the gorilla habitat about the great monkeys - the lion-killers. Moreover, he was told about their amazing attitude towards people: “Male gorillas always behave aggressively when they meet a hunter. And then there is nothing of the kind. These monkeys, having come face to face with a person, look at him carefully, as if recognizing him, and then quietly hide in the jungle. No aggression, no fear."
In total, according to the Daily News article, scientists have seen eight such primates. The name of the area (Bali) in which Shelley Williams met was also given.
… So, there are two real messages. All the rest (numerous!) In one way or another go back to them.
It is not hard to see that the second article gives more details - but seems to go back to the same "pre-primary" as the BBC / Nature posts. The fact that the seemingly firmly “promised” photographic and video images have not yet been published, forces us to take all this information with caution.
However, it is appropriate to recall with what skepticism (also held out for several years!) The first information about mountain gorillas was accepted at the beginning of the last century …
Be that as it may, collective hunting is absolutely not characteristic of the known primates: at least in SUCH form, as is attributed to the mysterious "gorilloids". If these observations are confirmed in the future (and the several years that have passed since the first reports are not a period for both cryptozoology and traditional zoology), then the hypothesis will be rather not about "unusual gorillas", but about the surviving descendants of Australopithecus, the first humanoid hunters.
The variety of Australopithecus species was quite large - and the most massive of them outwardly looked very much like modern gorillas. At the same time, they, unlike modern primates, could regularly use at least "natural" weapons in the form of rough stones and sticks. Which, it seems, is not alien to the mysterious "gorilloids": even with their growth and collective manner of attack, they are unlikely to be able to kill lions with their bare hands!
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