Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

4 (1949): 70–76; Jan-Ove Sundberg, “The
Kalimantan Monster,” Pursuit 9 (Summer
1976): 66; Karl Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric
Survivors (London: Blandford, 1995), pp.
162–163.
Tigre de Montagne
Mystery CAT of West and Central Africa.
Etymology: French, “mountain tiger.”
Variant names: Coq-djingé (Yulu/Nilo-
Saharan, “mountain tiger”), Coq-ninji, GASSIN-
GRÂM, HADJEL, WANJILANKO.
Physical description: Larger than a lion. Red
fur with white stripes, though a black variety is
also known. Protruding teeth. Long hair on its
paws. Tailless.
Behavior: Roars. Can carry away large antelopes.
Tracks: Long hair on the legs and paws eradicates
its tracks.
Habitat: Mountains and caves.
Distribution: Ennedi and other mountainous
areas of Chad; the Massif des Bongos, Central
African Republic; Casamance Forest, Senegal.
Significant sighting: In the 1960s and 1970s,
hunter Christian Le Noël heard stories about a
big, striped cat with protruding teeth in the
Ennedi Mountains, Chad. On one occasion, Le
Noël heard a terrific roar in a cavern that his
tracker identified as coming from a Coq-djingé.
Possible explanation: Surviving Machairodus, a
genus of saber-toothed cat that lived in Africa
from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, 15–2 million
years ago. Some species were as large as
lions, but most had tigerlike proportions.
Sources: Karl Shuker, Mystery Cats of the
World (London: Robert Hale, 1989), pp.
142–143; Karl Shuker, In Search of Prehistoric
Survivors (London: Blandford, 1995), pp.
148–149; Christian Le Noël, “Le tigre des
montagnes: Des felins à dents en sabre au
coeur de l’Afrique?” Institut Virtuel de
Cryptozoologie, http://perso.wanadoo.fr/
cryptozoo/dossiers/tigrmont.htm.
Tinicum Cat
Unknown small CAT of Pennsylvania.
Etymology: After the township where one was
killed in 1922.
Variant names: Indian devil, Nockamixon
cat, Timber cat, Woods cat.
Physical description: Bobcatlike felid. Total
length, 30 inches. Shoulder height, 13 inches.
Weight, 8.5 pounds. Sandy-gray coat, with
some yellow or buff color mixed in. A dark
streak extends from the shoulders along the
spine to the end of the tail. Tigerlike stripes on
the body, legs, and tail. Fluffy winter coat. Said
to be noticeably different from a feral domestic
cat. Round head. Flat ears. Broad gray face, 7
inches across the ears. Regular black lines on the
face. Strong teeth. Stiff, white whiskers. Conspicuous
white spot on the throat. Front legs, 17
inches long. Hind legs, 13 inches. Thick, ringed
tail, 10–11 inches long, with a black tip.
Behavior: Fights fiercely when cornered.
Habitat: Rocky, wooded hills.
Distribution: Bucks and Fayette Counties,
Pennsylvania. Also possibly in southern Illinois.
Significant sightings: Hunters in the early
nineteenth century said these cats were plentiful
when the first settlers moved in but had become
much rarer in the intervening years. Three specimens
were caught in Irish Gap, Pennsylvania,
in 1857 and 1858 by C. H. Shearer.
A pair of strange wildcats had apparently been
uttering terrifying screams at night for three
years. On January 16, 1922, after tracking them
for several days, Tunis Brady caught the male in
a trap near its den in some rocks in Tinicum
Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The
animal put up a terrific fight, and Brady had to
dispatch it with a rifle. The cat was given to State
Game Warden Warren Fretz, of Doylestown,
who took photographs and made arrangements
to have it mounted. It is not known where the
specimen is now. At the time, it seemed obvious
to local people that it was neither a bobcat nor a
feral cat; most favored the theory that it was a
European wildcat, either indigenous to the region
or introduced from Europe long ago.
Possible explanations:
(1) A Bobcat (Lynx rufus) x feral Domestic
cat (Felis silvestris catus) hybrid.
TINICUM CAT 551