Illustration of a water lion attacking a hippopotamus, by an unknown artist.
The dilali (Gbaya-Gossangoa: "water lion"[1]) or dilaï is a water lion reported from southern Chad and the Central African Republic.[1][2][3][4] In 1912, a lieutenant of the German Imperial Defense Corps named Nauman of Ulm found that locals near Chad's Ouham River were pertubed by his cavalry horse, which was unknown in the country. They told him that they had a similarly maned animal, the "dilai," in their rivers, which was rarely seen, but very dangerous and greatly feared. The officer offered a reward of 50 marks for evidence of the dilai, but nobody came forwards.[2][5]
Later, in 1932, Lucien Blancou recived a rather confused description of the dilali from an interpreter and a guard in Ubangi-Shari. The Baya interpreter described it has having the body of a horse and the claws of a lion, and the Zandé guard interrupted, adding that it also had large tusks like those of a walrus. The Zandé said that it ate fish, whilst the Baya mantained that it fed only on leaves. An elderly chief also told Blancou that, some time ago, he had discovered a dead hippopotamus about two miles from the river, which had been killed but not eaten by a dilali.[2]
Bernard Heuvelmans first suggested the dilali may be a hypothetical tusked variety of the water elephant, given its tusks and apparently herbivorous nature,[2] but later theorised that most of the Central African water lions could be amphibious living sabre-toothed cats.[5] On the basis of its original description of having a horse's body and a lion's claws, and it's reportedly herbivorous behaviour, Heuvelmans also briefly discussed the possibility that the dilali, among other Central African amphibious cryptids, could be a living chalicothere. He concluded that the likeness is only partial, and pointed out that there is no evidence of chalicotheres being aquatic.[2]
Similar cryptids[]
Other water lions include the coje ya menia, the mamaimé, the mourou-ngou, the nzefu-loi, the ngoroli, the ntambo wa luy, and possibly the dingonek.
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1576072835
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Heuvelmans, Bernard (1955) On the Track of Unknown Animals, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138977525
- ↑ Krumbiegel, Ingo (1950) Von Neuen und Unentdeckten Tierarten
- ↑ Kirch, Robert "Animaux inconnus en Afrique?", Connaissance de la Chasse 60 (April 1981)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Heuvelmans, Bernard & Rivera, Jean-Luc & Barloy, Jean-Jacques (2007) Les Félins Encore Inconnus d’Afrique, Les Editions de l'Oeil du Sphinx, ISBN 978-2914405430