The chui'erdashou (Chinese: "big beast with lop-lobed ears") or Shengnongding dashou (Chinese: "Shengnongding big beast") is a cryptid bear reported from China's Shennongjia Forestry District, in the Hubei Province. It is described as a bear-like animal, larger than the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), with lop-ears.[1]
Description[]
The chui'erdashou is described as a black-furred animal resembling a bear, but the size of a bull. Its characteristic features are its long lop ears, which are about 30 centimetres (1') in width. Its head is said to be large, 60 centimetres (2') long, and its eyes small. It was reported from regions with dense bamboo, specifically Xiaolongtan, Wumingding, and Shennongding.[1]
Sightings[]
1975[]
A forestry station worker named He Baoshan reported seeing a large, lop-eared bear in 1975 in Xiaolongtan. The head of the station, Tan Wencai, also reported a sighting in Wumingding in the same year.[1]
1976[]
Tan Wencai reported a second sighting in 1976.[1]
1977[]
Tan made two further sightings in 1977; in the first sighting, he observed the animal leaning against a tree. Another local man reported seeing an "extraordinary beast" the size of a large bull in Shennongding in June or July of the same year.[1]
Theories[]
David C. Xu suggests that, if it was not a single abberant bear, or an unknown species of bear, the chui'erdashou could have been a relative of the diprotodonts, giant bear-like wombats which have sometimes been reconstructed with fluffy, koala-like ears. However, they are known only from Australia.[1]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Xu, David C. (2018) Mystery Creatures of China: The Complete Cryptozoological Guide, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616464301