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The ndalawo was a cryptid cat reported from forests in west Uganda,[1][2] sometimes classified as a dark leopard.[3][4] It is described as a mostly-black, pack-hunting big cat.[2] The ndalawo has occasionally been associated with the brindled mngwa of Tanzania.[5][6]
Attestations[]
Anglo-Indian game warden Charles Pitman first mentioned the ndalawo in a 1928 game report.[1] He later penned a more detailed description of the cryptid, using the spelling ondurlarwo, in his book A Game Warden Among His Charges (1931). According to Pitman, the ndalawo was known in the extreme north-west of Uganda, in the West Nile District neighbouring what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the west of the Albert Nile. He also claimed that an ndalawo skin had once been procured, but was "sent out of the country before it could be subjected to scientific examination".[5] Captain William Hichens later mentioned the cryptid in a 1937 article in Discovery: The Popular Journal of Knowledge, calling it the ndalawo.[7]
Description[]
According to Pitman, the ndalawo was described as being identical to a leopard (Panthera pardus) "in shape, size, characteristics and claws," but with a coat which was almost black on the back, and "hyena grey" on the flanks and underside, with almost no markings except for on the extremities and the lower jaw. Behaviourally, it was more distinct, as it was reputed to hunt in groups of three to four, uttering a peculiar laugh while doing so.[5]
Theories[]
Pitman thought that the ndalawo was identical to the mngwa or nunda, which he called nundar, of the Tanzanian coastal forests,[5] a comparison also initially made by Bernard Heuvelmans.[6] However, most cryptozoologists classify it as a dark leopard, a group of mystery cats also including the damasia of Kenya, the uruturangwe of Rwanda, and the kibambangwe of Uganda,[3] some of which have occasionally been confused with giant hyenas such as the Nandi bear.[1] Captain Hichens rejected a hyena identity for the ndalawo on account of its bolder and more aggressive behaviour.[7]
Pitman wrote that the ndalawo seemed to be a "partly melanistic leopard,"[5] and Karl Shuker also suggests a pseudo-melanistic leopard as a possible ndalawo identity. Unlike fully melanistic leopards, which are black, pseudo-melanistic individuals retain paler underparts. However, the ndalawo's supposed social behaviour and unusual vocalisations, if correctly described, cannot be explained by this theory. Due to these differences, Shuker feels that, out of all the dark leopards, the ndalawo is the most likely to represent an unknown species.[2]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 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
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Shuker, Karl P. N. (2020) Mystery Cats of the World Revisited: Blue Tigers, King Cheetahs, Black Cougars, Spotted Lions, and More, Anomalist Books, ISBN 978-1949501179
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 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)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Pitman, Charles (1931) A Game Warden Among His Charges
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Heuvelmans, Bernard (1955) On the Track of Unknown Animals, Routledge, ISBN 978-1138977525
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hichens, William "African Mystery Beasts," Discovery: The Popular Journal of Knowledge, Vol. 18, No. 216 (December 1937) – Online (Wayback Machine)