Ngoubou
Encyclopedia
The Ngoubou is a purportedly surviving ceratopsia
n-like cryptid
in the savanna region of Cameroon
. It is said to have six horns, and fights elephants for land, despite its smaller size (about the size of an ox, according to locals).
In November 2000, William Gibbons did some preliminary research in Cameroon for a future Mokele-mbembe
expedition. He was accompanied by David Wetzel. While visiting with a group of pygmies they were informed about an animal called Ngoubou. Although ngoubou is also the local word for rhinoceros, the pygmies asserted this was not a regular rhinoceros, as it had more than one horn (six horns on the frill in one account), and further stated that the father of one of the senior members of the community had killed one with a spear a number of years ago. The locals had noted a firm decline in the population of these animals lately, making them harder to find.
Gibbons identified the animal with a Styracosaurus
, but these are currently only known to have inhabited North America. It might be related to the Emela-ntouka
, but this animal is single-horned. Ceratopsia
n fossils are not found in Africa. Most have been found in Eastern Asia and North America
, with one find
in Australia
.
.
The sighting, apparently from The Times, was taken on 17 November 1919. The sighting was made by a man named Lepage who was in charge of a railway construction in the Belgian Congo. He states that while hunting in the Congo rainforest "he came across an extraordinary monster, which charged at him. Lepage fired but was forced to flee, with the monster in chase. The animal before long gave up the chase and Lepage was able to examine it through his binoculars. The animal, he says, was about 24 feet in length with a long pointed snout adorned with tusks like horns and a short horn above the nostrils. The front feet were like those of a horse and the hind hoofs were cloven. There was a scaly hump on the monsters shoulder."
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
n-like cryptid
Cryptid
In cryptozoology and sometimes in cryptobotany, a cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but is unrecognized by scientific consensus and often regarded as highly unlikely. Famous examples include the Yeti in the Himalayas and the Loch Ness Monster in...
in the savanna region of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. It is said to have six horns, and fights elephants for land, despite its smaller size (about the size of an ox, according to locals).
In November 2000, William Gibbons did some preliminary research in Cameroon for a future Mokele-mbembe
Mokèlé-mbèmbé
Mokèlé-mbèmbé, meaning "one who stops the flow of rivers" in the Lingala language, is the name given to a large water-dwelling cryptid found in legends and folklore of the Congo River basin. It is sometimes described as a living creature and sometimes as a spirit. It could be considered loosely...
expedition. He was accompanied by David Wetzel. While visiting with a group of pygmies they were informed about an animal called Ngoubou. Although ngoubou is also the local word for rhinoceros, the pygmies asserted this was not a regular rhinoceros, as it had more than one horn (six horns on the frill in one account), and further stated that the father of one of the senior members of the community had killed one with a spear a number of years ago. The locals had noted a firm decline in the population of these animals lately, making them harder to find.
Gibbons identified the animal with a Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period , about 76.5 to 75.0 million years ago...
, but these are currently only known to have inhabited North America. It might be related to the Emela-ntouka
Emela-ntouka
The Emela-ntouka is an African legendary creature in the mythology of the Pygmy tribes, and a cryptid purported to live in Central Africa. Its name means "killer of the elephants" in the Lingala language...
, but this animal is single-horned. Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
n fossils are not found in Africa. Most have been found in Eastern Asia and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with one find
Serendipaceratops
Serendipaceratops is a dubious genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of Australia.The type species, S. arthurcclarkei, was named after Arthur C...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Possible sighting
Bernard Heuvelmans included a sighting of an animal resembling the Ngoubou in his book On the Track of Unknown AnimalsOn the Track of Unknown Animals
On the Track of Unknown Animals is a cryptozoological book by Belgian-French author Bernard Heuvelmans that was first published in 1955 under the title Sur la Piste des Bêtes Ignorées. The English translation by Richard Garnett was published in 1958 with some updating by the author and with a...
.
The sighting, apparently from The Times, was taken on 17 November 1919. The sighting was made by a man named Lepage who was in charge of a railway construction in the Belgian Congo. He states that while hunting in the Congo rainforest "he came across an extraordinary monster, which charged at him. Lepage fired but was forced to flee, with the monster in chase. The animal before long gave up the chase and Lepage was able to examine it through his binoculars. The animal, he says, was about 24 feet in length with a long pointed snout adorned with tusks like horns and a short horn above the nostrils. The front feet were like those of a horse and the hind hoofs were cloven. There was a scaly hump on the monsters shoulder."
See also
- Emela-ntoukaEmela-ntoukaThe Emela-ntouka is an African legendary creature in the mythology of the Pygmy tribes, and a cryptid purported to live in Central Africa. Its name means "killer of the elephants" in the Lingala language...
- Mokele-mbembeMokèlé-mbèmbéMokèlé-mbèmbé, meaning "one who stops the flow of rivers" in the Lingala language, is the name given to a large water-dwelling cryptid found in legends and folklore of the Congo River basin. It is sometimes described as a living creature and sometimes as a spirit. It could be considered loosely...
- Mbielu-Mbielu-MbieluMbielu-Mbielu-MbieluThe Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu is a cryptid reported from the Likouala Region of the Republic of the Congo. Only a few claimed sightings have been reported, at the villages of Bounila and Ebolo, which were collected by the cryptozoologist Roy Mackal...
- Nguma-moneneNguma-moneneNguma-monene is a cryptid supposedly living in the Republic of Congo, described as being like a large lizard with a serrated ridge on its back.-Sightings:...
- Living dinosaurLiving dinosaurIn cryptozoology, living dinosaurs are hypothetical non-bird dinosaurs that survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event and continue to exist today....