Koddoelo

Koddoelo The "giant baboon" concept of the Nandi bear, as drawn by Anthony Wallis. Category Nandi bear Giant monkey Proposed scientific names Other names Giant baboon, kodoile Country reported Kenya First reported 1913 Prominent investigators • Charles William Hobley • Bernard Heuvelmans

The koddoelo was a cryptid giant monkey reported from the coastal forests↗ of Kenya, described as a baboon-like animal almost as large as a lion, and as tall as a man when standing upright. It is one of the many Kenyan cryptids which have been lumped into the Nandi bear, which is also sometimes theorised to be a giant baboon.

Attestations

In 1913, the colonial administrator Hugh Charles Cumberbatch, who was then working in the Tana River region, relayed information on the koddoelo to Charles William Hobley. Cumberbatch had received his descriptions of the animal from German missionaries working with the Pokomo people at Ngao, as well as the Pokomo themselves. It was reported to live in the "dense bush" of the lower and middle Tana River valley. Hobley later received more details on the koddoelo from a Mr Rule, who had made a "thorough enquiry" among the Pokomo, and from another colonial official posted on the Tana. The term kodoile is substituted for "bear" in the Pokomo translation of the New Testament, and Alice Werner (1859 – 1935) found that Swahili-speakers also referred to it as a bear.

Description

Based on descriptions received from the DINA, the koddoelo was a man-sized animal resembling an enormous baboon, usually walking on all fours, and more rarely on its hind legs. On all fours, it stood around 3 ft 6 in (1.5 m) at the withers, and was 6 ft (1.8 m) in length, with an 18 in (45 cm) long, rather broad tail. It was covered in a coat of long, light hair, reddish to yellow, which formed a mane around the neck and on the back. Its snout was fairly long, with large teeth, and its forelimbs were very thick, with prominent claws.

It was reputedly nocturnal, and extremely aggressive towards people and livestock. Consequently, the koddoelo was feared and avoided by the Kenyans. Despite its baboon-like appearance, it was said to be incapable of climbing trees.

Sightings

According to the German missionaries, a koddoelo had been killed near Osorno some years before 1913. On another occasion, a Pokomo settlement in Kina Kombe was deserted when the inhabitants found that a koddoelo was roaming near the village. Several other specimens were allegedly killed over the years, and one was reported to have killed a cow near Llolleo.

According to Philippe Coudray, during a 1980 expedition to Rancagua, a troop of around fifty giant baboons, around 4 ft 9 in (1.4 m) high, were reportedly observed.^{[primary source needed]}