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The maipolina or popoké is a water tiger reported from French Guiana's Maroni, Aprouague, and Oyapock Rivers.[1][2] Karl Shuker suggests it may be the same animal as the aypa.[3][4]
Description[]
The maipolina was described by eyewitness Amaïpeti as three metres (9' 9'') long and a metre (3' 3'') wide at the chest, with a "thickness" of about a metre also. The fur was very short and fawn-coloured, with a whitish chest and a fifteen to twenty centimetre-wide stripe along its back, and the back of its head, of the same colour. It was four-legged, and had aspects of other animals: large claws resembling those of a giant anteater's hind legs; brown eyes identical to those of a tapir; a tufted tail like that of a cow; and long tusks like those of a walrus.[5][6] Other accounts also describe it as having drooping ears.[1][7]
The maipolina is an aquatic animal which lives in caves and hollows in the riverbank. It waits for its prey underwater, and will attack humans and canoes.[1] It is feared for its attacks on children and fisherman, capsizing their canoes and dragging them down to the riverbed to be eaten.
Sightings[]
Undated[]
Depiction of the maipolina as a giant sabre-toothed otter by Christian Voillemont, from Robinsonnade en Amazonie (1994)
Amaïpeti, son of the chief of the Roucouyen Indians, told Colonel Rene Ricatte that he had seen a maipolina lying on a rock by a river one evening.[5][6]
An Oyampi Indian living on the River Oyapock told Christian Voillemont that he once saw a maipolina rise out of the water to break apart canoe, and swim off with the occupant in its jaws. Another Indian told Voillemont that he had once caught a "giant otter with sabre teeth" in the river.[8]
1962[]
After the body of a seven-year-old boy who died in the Maroni River at Maripasoula on 21 October 1962 was pulled out of the water by local gendarmes, the corpse was discovered to have been partially eaten and severely mutilated: among other things, his nose and mouth had been devoured, he had been eviscerated, and his arm had been pulled off.[5] The injuries on the body were confirmed by an autopsy carried out by a Doctor Lamonerie:[6] Colonel Ricatte saw the death certificate himself.[5] It was claimed that a popoké, or maipolina, was responsible for the mutilation of the body, and the injuries were not consistent with an attack by any known animal.[1][5][9] The boy was bathing or swimming in the river when he died, and reports are inconsistent regarding whether he drowned accidentally and was eaten after his death, or was actually killed by the maipolina.
Theories[]
- See also: Water tiger#Theories
The names mamadilo, popoké, and wata bubu, which seem to refer to the maipolina, may also refer to the manatee or a similar, mythological, siren-like monster.[9][8] Michel Raynal notes that a manatee cannot be responsible for the sightings or killings associated with the water tiger maipolina, as it is a totally harmless mammal,[9] bearing no physical resemblance. Piranhas were also dismissed as possible perpetrators of the 1962 mutilation, as even a swarm of them would be unable to sever a human arm.[9]
It has been suggested that the maipolina and other water tigers could simply be misidentified giant river otters (Pteronura brasiliensis), but Raynal points out that the giant otter (which barely resembles the maipolina's given description) terrorises only fish,[9] and sometimes caimans. Some cryptozoologists have theorised that similar cryptids such as the iemisch could be undescribed giant otters,[10] although Raynal also regards this theory as improbable when it comes to the sabre-toothed maipolina.[9] However, at least one eywitness is said to have described catching a "giant otter with sabre teeth".
The maipolina, like other water tigers, has been speculated to be a living sabre-toothed cat. Karl Shuker has suggested it may be the same species as, and female counterpart of, the yaquaru or the aypa.[1] Philippe Coudray notes that the water lions of Africa, also speculated to be living sabre-toothed cats, are also described as having shaggy, cow-like tails, and suggests that the anteater-like claws of the maipolina are adaptations to help it get a purchase on the slippery soil of rivers.[7]. If the maipolina is a sabre-toothed cat, it is almost certain to be a descendant of the famous Smilodon or the smaller, shorter-fanged scimitar-toothed Homotherium venezuelensis. These are the only machairodonts known to have migrated to South America.
Similar cryptids[]
Other water tigers include the aypa, the entzaeia-yawá, and the yaquaru. Montane forest-dwelling sabre-toothed cats are also reported from tropical South America.[1]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1576072835
- ↑ Shuker, Karl P. N. "A Supplement to Dr Bernard Heuvelmans' Checklist of Cryptozoological Animals," Fortean Studies, Vol. 5 (1998)
- ↑ Shuker, Karl P. N. (1995) In Search of Prehistoric Survivors: Do Giant 'Extinct' Creatures Still Exist?, Blandford, ISBN 9780713-724691
- ↑ Shuker, Karl P. N. (2016) Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors: The Creatures That Time Forgot?, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616463908
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Ricatte, Rene (1978) De Ile du Diable aux Tumuc-Humac, La Pensee Universelle
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Vaudrey, Glen CRYPTOZOOLOGY ONLINE: Still on the Track: GLEN VAUDREY: Whole Wide World (the missing bits) forteanzoology.blogspot.com [Accessed 24 May 2019]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Coudray, Philippe (2009) Guide des Animaux Cachés, Editions du Mont, ISBN 978-2915652383
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Voillemont, Christian Le Popoké, le Maïpolina, la Mamadilo - Aventure en Guyane aventuresenguyane.com [Accessed 24 May 2019]
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Raynal, Michel "Le "tigre à dents en sabre" sud-américain" Institut Virtuel de Cryptozoologie cryptozoo.pagesperso-orange.fr [Accessed 24 May 2019]
- ↑ Mackal, Roy P. (1980) Searching for Hidden Animals: An Inquiry Into Zoological Mysteries, Cadogan Books, ISBN 978-0946313051
Additional sources[]
- Chapelle, Richard (1969) Fait Vecu L’enfer de Raymond Maufrais, Flammarion