A giant ground sloth that is the inspiration for the legendary Mapinguari,
the Amazon鈥檚 equivalent of the abominable snowman, is living in the depths
of the rainforest, according to David Oren, an American biologist who works
at the Goeldi Museum in Belem, Brazil. He plans an expedition next month
to bring back proof that the animal exists.
Oren says he has spoken to Indians, rubber tappers and illegal gold-miners
who have seen the creature. But no one has been able to get near enough
to collect firm evidence of the animal鈥檚 existence, allegedly because it
gives off a cloud of noxious gas.
The Mapinguari legend tells of a terrifying one-eyed creature which
devours the head of its victims. It is covered in red hair and has a mouth
in its belly.
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Oren says he believes the animal is a large fruit-eating mammal weighing
200 to 300 kilos and that the 鈥榤outh in the belly鈥� is a gland which gives
off the gas. The animal has been sighted all over the Amazon region. 鈥楨very
single Indian language has a word for this species and the description is
always the same,鈥� he says. Three animals have been caught, says Oren, but
the captors couldn鈥檛 withstand the noxious gas.
Next month Oren will be looking for the Mapinguari in Acre state, near
the Peruvian border. 鈥楾he locals say that this is the time that the animals
come down from the Andean foothills,鈥� he says.
