Encyclopaedia of Cryptozoology
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Bumé
Category Cryptoungulate (African unicorn)
Proposed scientific names
Other names Boomy, mbume
Country reported Botswana, Zambia
First reported 1854
Prominent investigators • David Livingstone

The bumé was a cryptid ungulate reported from western Zambia and northern Botswana by the explorer David Livingstone (1813 – 1873), associated with reports of African unicorns.[1] It was described to Livingstone as a one-horned, hippopotamus-sized animal which lived on the land, but snorted like a hippo.[2][3] Livingstone believed it to be a rhinoceros, eventually settling on a relative of the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis),[2] a theory still supported by many cryptozoologists regarding African unicorns, forest rhinoceroses, and water rhinoceroses.

Notes and references[]

  1. Blyth, Edward "A Memoir on the Living Asiatic Species of Rhinoceros," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 31 (1863)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Livingstone, David "Explorations Into the Interior of Africa," Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 24 (1854)
  3. Livingstone, David & Schapera, Isaac (1960) Livingstone's Private Journals, 1851-1853
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