|
The ninki nanka (Unknown: "snake" or "dragon devil") is a cryptid river monster reported from Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal, often described as a dragon.[1] It briefly became relatively well-known in 2006 due to the Centre for Fortean Zoology's Gambian expedition, which received some media coverage.
Description[]
An early, austere description of the ninki nanka in 1944 referred to an enormous reptilian monster "that comes out at night from the ooze and slime of the mangrove marshes and devours whatever it meets".[2] In 1935, it was described to Doctor Thomas Hardie Dalrymple as an animal which mainly lived submerged in mud in the mangrove forests, only coming out on moonlit nights. It had "the face of a horse, a neck like a giraffe, a body like a crocodile and about 30 feet in length". Dalrymple wrote that when some Gambian locals saw a photograph of a concrete dinosaur statue, they excitedly claimed that "a white man had photographed Ninkenanka".[3][4] According to a 1940's survey, adults live in the water, while babies live in baobab trees, and sightings mainly occur at the start of the rainy season. It was widely regarded as dangerous.[3][5] Three unusual horns, including one on the forehead, were sometimes described.[6]
In 2000, a Gambian man interviewed by Matthew Hall drew the ninki-nanka as "a kind of dragon," a long-necked animal with small legs and a large body. It is reputed to control water and cause floods.[7] According to various second-hand descriptions gathered by the Centre for Fortean Zoology in 2006, the ninki nanka is "huge and terrible" with four legs and a horrible head; an animal resembling a crocodile with a different head and teeth, and big eyes; an enormous python-like animal with legs, bats wings, and the ability to breathe fire; "unimaginably huge," with a body covered in shining scales, and a crest of fire on its head; or a snake-like animal with a head like a kangaroo. One man stated that it could grow to be the size of a 60' palm tree, and that as it grows larger it moves out into the sea. The only first-hand eyewitness who could be found described the ninki-nanka as a 160' long animal covered in reflective scales, with a feather-like crest hanging over its horse-like face. It emerged from a hole in the ground, and had neither legs nor wings. Two second-hand accounts described it as having writing upon its crest, and mirror-like scales were mentioned frequently.[8]
When Chris Moiser investigated in 2000, he found varying attitudes towards the ninki nanka in urban Gambia. While a Mandinka hotel cashier considered it a myth and local jewellers sold ninki nanka trinkets, a Wolof taxi driver and a schoolteacher both regarded it as a real, but frightening and taboo, animal.[3] Shortly afterwards, Matthew Hall was told by one Gambian man that the ninki nanka had existed for a long time, but was now extinct. Another informant contested this, claiming that the ninki nanka still existed, and was just rarely seen.[7]
Sightings[]
Undated[]
A ninki nanka was once supposedly killed by "an old wise man" wielding a machete, and buried on South Beach.[7] The uncle of a jeweller allegedly encountered a ninki nanka upriver from Kotu "many years" before 2006. The man died within five years, and the jeweller was convinced that the sighting had caused his death.[8] Another alleged sighting, in which a kangaroo-faced, fork-tongued ninki nanka was found coiled in the undergrowth, is also said to have led to the eyewitness's death.[7]
1911[]
When a lake near Banjul was drained by British authorities in 1911, locals feared a "dragon" which was supposed to live in the depths of the lake. Owing to the belief that the only thing the dragon feared was its own reflection, the locals erected a mirror, and it was never seen again.[7]
1935[]
Doctor Thomas Hardie Dalrymple wrote that after being disturbed one night in 1935 by excited locals by the River Gambia, he made enquiries and was told that a ninki nanka had been seen. Several months later, Dalrymble was told of another active ninki nanka, but could not go through with his search for the animal due to an infestation of mosquitos.[4]
1943[]
A night watchman named Papa Jinda claimed to have seen a ninki nanka around what is now Abuko in 1943, describing it as a huge animal covered in shining scales.[8]
1947[]
Papa Jinda saw the ninki nanka again in 1947, and shortly afterwards he began to suffer from pains in his legs and sides, as well as hair loss, leading to his death two weeks later.[8]
1993[]
In the summer of 1993, a stretch of the River Gambia was polluted by "a black foul smelling substance" which killed thousands of fish and caused illnesses among local people. At the time, one of many theories regarding the cause of the pollution was that the "decayed remains of a dragon may have been washed into the river by heavy rains".[3]
~2002[]
Sometime between 2001 and 2003, a ninki nanka allegedly caused a lorry to crash when, during heavy rains, it crossed a road and created an enormous furrow.[8]
~2003[]
A park ranger named Momomodu claimed to have seen a ninki nanka less than three years before the 2006 CFZ expedition, in Kiang West. He saw the animal come out of a hole in the ground, and watched it crawl around for more than an hour. He became ill and afflicted with lesions about two weeks afterwards, and was cured by an Imam who gave him a herbal potion.[8]
Theories[]
Richard Freeman originally speculated that the ninki nanka could be a giant, swamp-dwelling monitor lizard with an elongated neck, similar in size to the Australian megalania.[7] Following the 2006 expedition, in which only a single first-hand eyewitness could be found, Freeman theorised that the cryptid was the memory of "some form of huge snake [which] may have existed in former times, but is now extinct in the Gambia," but which might still exist in other parts of Africa. Over the years this extinct or extirpated snake would have become a boogeyman type of creature, possibly demonised by the coming of Islam. Similarly, Oll Lewis' suggestion was that the ninki nanka is the last vestige of a pre-Islamic python deity which has become demonised.[8]
According to Dale A. Drinnon, the term ninki nanka seems to be applied to various local freshwater monsters, including giant stingrays, elephant seals, and possible giant monitor lizards. In particular, he singles out the attributes of a fat body, a large mouth with tusks, an inflatable "horn" or trunk, and the 30' length as originating with elephant seals. He also proposes a connection with water elephants, a term used in Benin and Nigeria, besides the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[6]
However, Drinnon theorises that the most famous version, the long-necked giraffe-like reptilian animal described early on, may refer to a surviving sivathere, particularly due to the description of its head as resembling that of a horse or a giraffe with unusual horns.[6][9]
In popular culture[]
- The Senegalese music group Touré Kunda include a song named "Ninki Nanka" in their album Casamance au Clair de Lune (1984).
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology, ABC-CLIO, Inc., ISBN 1576072835
- ↑ Jeffreys, Mervyn David W. "African Pterodactyls," Journal of the Royal African Society 43 (1944)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Moiser, Chris "Ninki Nanka: The Dragon of the Gambia," Animals & Men 24 (2001)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clarke, Arthur C. (1987) Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious
- ↑ Appia, Beatrice "Notes sur la Genie des eaux en Guinee," Journal de la Societe des Africanistes 14 (1944?)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Drinnon, Dale A. Frontiers of Zoology: UPDATE on The Sea Elephants frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com [Accessed 8 February 2019]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Freeman, Richard "More on the Terror of Gambia," Animals & Men 24 (2001)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Freeman, Richard "Expedition Report: Gambia 2006," Animals & Men 39 (2006)
- ↑ Drinnon, Dale A. Frontiers of Zoology: Surviving Sivatheres frontiersofzoology.blogspot.com [Accessed 8 February 2019]