For hundreds of years, Westerners have heard tales from pygmies living in the Congo river basin of a living dinosaur called the Mokèlé-mbèmbé, the "one who stops the flow of rivers." The BBC World Service talks to several explorers on the search for this beast that apparently may resemble a sauropod, elephant, rhinoceros, or perhaps something more akin to a "spirit" than a real animal. From BBC News (image from, er, Baby):
Paul Ohlin, a community development worker who spent more than 10 years living with the Bayaka in Congo and the Central African Republic, just to the north, says the people who live in the area are in no doubt about the creature's existence.
"When people are sitting around the campfire talking, they talk about the Mokele-mbembe – it's something that's a reality in everyday life," he says.
At the same time he emphasizes their "spiritual connection" and "mystical relationship" with it.
"The way they see the world is a little different to the way you and I see it," says Paul.
But their eyewitness reports still need to be taken seriously, in his view.
"The hunt for Mokele-mbembe: Congo's Loch Ness Monster" (via The Anomalist)
