Police hunt for PNG dinosaur

AAP/Ninemsn ^ | 12 Mar 2004

[Piefloater]

Reports a live dinosaur had been sighted on a volcanic island of Papua New Guinea prompted the deployment of heavily-armed police in search of the mystery creature.

Villagers in the superstitious island province of East New Britain this week said they fled in terror after seeing a three-metre tall, grey-coloured creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile.

They said the creature was living among thick green plants in a mosquito-ridden marsh just outside the provincial capital Kokopo, near the devastated town of Rabaul which was buried by a volcanic eruption in 1994.

Kokopo's Mayor Albert Buanga said the dinosaur would make a great a tourist attraction, if it existed.

A government official confirmed police carrying M-16s and shotguns searched the area but found no trace of the creature.

Eyewitness Christine Samei told reporters she ran for her life after seeing a three-metre tall, grey creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile which was as fat as a 900-litre water tank.

"It's a very huge and ugly looking animal," Samei told local media.

A government official said the villagers had identified the creature from books and movies about dinosaurs.

"They told us it was a dinosaur," the official told AAP.

Although police found no trace of the creature, Senior Sergeant Leuth Nidung warned villagers to take extra precautions when going about their daily business, amid reports it had eaten three dogs.

Villagers were told to report any further sightings immediately to police, who were already organising a more thorough search of the area.

Black magic and other superstitions are common in many parts of PNG's predominantly village-based society.

Each year large numbers of foreigners visit the area to see World War II relics as well as the devastated town of Rabaul - the only urban centre in the world built inside the crater of a giant volcano.

[blam]

Domestic cats kill 200 million birds annually in the USA....just for fun.

[Paladin2]

Exactly.

Did they check first for the presence of a Japanese film company on location?

[VadeRetro]

And a buxom blonde tied to the gate!

Only if you get there just in time. To be sure of proper timing, listen for the ritual chant of "Boom-shaka-laka-laka-laka Kong!"

[js1138]

And it it's a darn good thing too, filthy chattering feathered dinosaurs. When we first moved to my current house, the neighbors had an enormous tomcat wearing one of those veterinary cones. the cat had been pecked raw by bluejays. We train our cats better. We acquired one that would lie in the middle of the yard and wait for the bluejays to attack. As the jay approached, the cat would do a flip at just the right moment, and one less jay. He could also catch dragonflies with the same technique.

He was a neutered male and acted sometimes like a mother cat. He took it upon himself to teach several generations of kittens to hunt.

[GeronL]

Police forces worldwide need to be on high alert for any possible dinosaur sightings! Happens all the time!

[Ken H]

listen for the ritual chant of "Boom-shaka-laka-laka-laka Kong!"

What a fantastic movie.

The remake sucked a you-know-what bigger than Kong's.

[GeronL]

was it a 3-headed frog?

[RonHolzwarth]

This is all so silly. It's just the Loch Ness monster enjoying his summer home.

Nothing to worry about at all.

[VadeRetro]

You said it. Helicopters! Sheesh!

[RonHolzwarth]

OH NO!!!

I mean, enjoying his WINTER home!!!

[cardinal4]

Eyewitness Christine Samei told reporters she ran for her life after seeing a three-metre tall, grey creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile which was as fat as a 900-litre water tank. "It's a very huge and ugly looking animal," Samei told local media.

You arent supposed to drink the bong water, are you?

[cardinal4]

Did they check first for the presence of a Japanese film company on location?

LOL!!

[Migraine]

Domestic cats kill 200 million birds annually in the USA....just for fun.

...and they leave them on our porches as gifts.

[Ken H]

Well I saw the thing comin' out of the sky
It had the one long horn, one big eye.
I commenced to shakin' and I said "ooh-eee"
It looks like a purple people eater to me.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

*****I am absolutely convinced that this will turn out to be a real dinosaur. They are not extinct after all!******

Like the one in Africa in the 1980's. Disney made a silly movie about it.

[Fedora]

Peter Jackson's version of the remake should be good :)

[VadeRetro]

Hope he goes for a period piece rather than trying to put it in 2004. DeLaurentis should have known better.

[Sola Veritas]

Apparently Ted Kennedy is making sorties to Rabual. He is the oldest living dinosaur I know about.

[Fedora]

Can't have a thread on this without mentioning Roy Mackal and the Mokele-Mbembe :)

Mackal, Roy P., Dr.

Mokele-Mbembe: Last of the Dinosaurs?

[Clean_Sweep]

"found no trace of the creature"???

3 meters tall, must weigh 1000 or more. It has to have some pretty big feet and leave foot prints I would think?