Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

Behavior: Runs rapidly. Burrows in the mud.
Distribution: Hiva Oa, Îles Marquises, French
Polynesia.
Significant sighting: Thor Heyerdahl and a native
named Terai were horseback riding on Hiva
Oa in 1937 when they saw a seagull-sized, wingless
bird run along the trail and disappear into
some ferns.
Present status: Possibly recently extinct, the
victim of hunters.
Possible explanations:
(1) Surviving flightless rail (Porphyrio
paepae) related to the Takahe (P. mantelli
hochstetteri) of New Zealand and known
from subfossil bones discovered on Hiva Oa
and Tahuata in 1988, proposed by Michel
Raynal.
(2) The Spotless crake (Porzana tabuensis), a
black rail 6–8 inches long, also called the
koao, suggested by Jean-Jacques Barloy. It
runs swiftly and lives in some valleys on Ua
Pou and Fatu Hiva. However, koao may
refer to both the crake and an unknown
rail.
Sources: Francis Mazière, Archipel du Tiki
(Paris: Robert Laffont, 1957), p. 261; Thor
Heyerdahl, Fatu-Hiva: Back to Nature
(London: Allen and Unwin, 1974), p. 225;
Jean-Jacques Barloy, Merveilles et mystères du
monde animal (Geneva, Switzerland: Famot,
1979), pp. 115–117; Michel Raynal, “‘Koau,’
l’oiseau insaisissable des Îles Marquises,”
Bulletin de la Société d’Étude des Sciences
Naturelles de Béziers, new ser., 8 (1980–1981):
20–26; Michel Raynal and Michel Dethier,
“Lézards géants des Maoris et oiseau
énigmatique des Marquisiens: La vérité derrière
la légende,” Bulletin Mensuel de la Société
Linnéenne de Lyon 59, no. 3 (1990): 85–91;
Michel Raynal, “The Mysterious Bird of Hiva-
Oa,” INFO Journal, no. 73 (Summer 1995):
17–21, updated in http://perso.wanadoo.fr/
cryptozoo/dossiers/hiva_eng.htm.
Koddoelo
Mystery animal of East Africa, similar to the
Nandi Bear.
Etymology: Pokomo (Bantu) word.
278 KODDOELO
Physical description: Looks like a large baboon.
Length, 6 feet. Shoulder height, 3 feet 6
inches. Reddish or yellow fur. Long nose. Large
canines. Thick mane. Thick forelegs. Long
claws. Tail is 18 inches long, 4 inches wide.
Behavior: Nocturnal. Fierce. Walks on four
legs, occasionally on two. Cannot climb trees.
Raids sheep pens. Attacks humans on sight.
Tracks: Five-toed, with one deep claw mark.
Distribution: Lower and Middle Tana River,
Kenya.
Possible explanation: Surviving Giant baboon
(Theropithecus oswaldi), a fossil baboon that
lived in Kenya 650,000 years ago. The male was
roughly the size of a female gorilla and weighed
250 pounds.
Sources: C. W. Hobley, “Unidentified Beasts
in East Africa,” Journal of the East Africa and
Uganda Natural History Society, no. 7 (1913):
85–86; Charles R. S. Pitman, A Game Warden
among His Charges (London: Nisbet, 1931),
pp. 287–302.
Kolowisi
Freshwater Monster of New Mexico.
Etymology: Zuni word.
Physical description: Horned. Gaping jaws.
Has feathers and fins.
Behavior: Can cause floods.
Habitat: Underground streams.
Distribution: Western New Mexico.
Sources: Ruth L. Bunzel, “An Introduction
to Zuñi Ceremonialism,” Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology 47 (1930): 487,
515–516; Etienne B. Renaud, Pictographs and
Petroglyphs of the High Western Plains (Denver,
Colo.: University of Denver, Department of
Anthropology, 1936).
Kondlo
Unknown Bird of South Africa.
Etymology: Zulu (Bantu) word.
Variant name: Inkondhlo.
Physical description: Glossy-black, turkeylike
bird. Sexes are similar. Smooth crest. No comb
or baldness. Red beak. Red legs. Red claws.
Behavior: Flies low. Seen in flocks of five to ten
animals. Voiceless. Eaten by the Zulu people.