The Nandi Bear (Duba) of Western Kenya

A huge and ferocious lion sized hyena with the face of a bear and a dark red coat stalks Kenya, attacking humans on dark moonless nights and preying on small children.

The creature has been named the Nandi Bear because the majority of sightings it have been by members of the Nandi tribe living in western Kenya, who have stories of this animal interlaced with their tribal history going back hundreds of years. European writers and explorers dating from the Roman conquests also recorded bear species living in Africa as well as describing giant squirrels with long, cat like tails, sharp teeth and bloodthirsty appetites. Other east African tribes also tell stories about bear like creatures and though there are currently no known species of bear living in Africa, the, thought to be extinct, Atlas Bear is most similar to the description and could have lived in Africa over four million years ago.

Scientists believe that there are too many reliable reports to declare the Nandi Bear a mythical creature…

During the 20th Century Western explorers began to hunt the Nandi Bear for themselves and were able to give much clearer accounts of what they discovered, which was an animal similar to a huge lioness but with a thick, dark red pelt, a snouted face and hindquarters which were shorter and sleeker than its heavy set forequarters, giving the animal the loping gait of a bear on all fours. Workers on the major railways that were built into the African jungle in the early 1900’s also reported seeing similar creatures, especially in the hours of dusk. While visitors to Africa may have made mistakes and confused what they saw with hyenas, baboons or African badgers, it is unlikely that the stories passed down in tribal lore are susceptible to mistaken identity.

Sightings of Nandi Bears by Europeans have dwindled in recent years, but hunters regularly go looking for them often with assistance from Nandi tribes people, who say they are still persecuted by these vicious creatures; and these parties return with plenty of reports of tracks made by no known animals and strange and frightening growling howls, especially on moonless nights…

Review by editor World Reviewer Staff

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