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Hunt for Gambia's mythical dragon (problematic to find because people die within weeks of seeing it)
The BBC ^ | July 16, 2006

Posted on 07/15/2006 2:05:22 AM PDT by Stoat

Hunt for Gambia's mythical dragon
A child's depiction of the ninki-nanka (Picture from the expedition blog: http://2006-gambia.blogspot.com/)
A child's depiction of the ninki-nanka on the expedition's blog
A team of UK dragon-hunters is on an expedition in The Gambia to track down a mysterious creature known locally as the "Ninki-nanka".

Believed to live in swamps, the ninki-nanka appears in the folklore of many parts of West Africa.

It is described as having a horse-like face, a long body with mirror-like scales and a crest of skin on its head.

Team leader Richard Freeman told the BBC, evidence so far was sketchy as most people died soon after seeing it.

Mr Freeman, a cryptozoologist from the UK-based Centre for Fortean Zoology, admitted that the ninki-nanka's existence was "very far-fetched indeed".

There seems to be this thing when you see the ninki-nanka you will die usually within a few weeks
 
Richard Freeman

Second-hand accounts varied wildly from it looking like a crocodile or a snake to having wings and spitting fire, he said.

But he disputed a suggestion that the hunt was a waste of time and money.

"We didn't know any of this before we came. We have to look into everything to see if there is a possibility that there's a real creature there," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Cryptozoology is the search for animals whose existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Loch Ness monster.

Herbal potion

The team have interviewed one eyewitness so far - a park ranger from the Kiang West National Park who lived to tell the tale of his encounter three years ago.

Close-up of the creature's "scale" (Picture from the expedition blog: http://2006-gambia.blogspot.com/)
One of the expedition team examines a 'scale'

He described an immense animal 50 metres long by one metre wide that he watched for more than an hour before being taken ill.

He put down his survival down to a herbal potion given to him by an Islamic holy man, Mr Freeman said.

Later, according to the expedition's blog, after being shown pictures of various reptiles and mythical animals, the ranger said the creature's face most resembled that of a Chinese dragon.

"We've heard very similar stories all over The Gambia but mostly not first hand eyewitnesses... there seems to be this thing when you see the ninki-nanka you will die usually within a few weeks," Mr Freeman said.

The team are taking back a sample of what is claimed to be a ninki-nanka's scale to be tested in the UK.

But initially investigations suggestion this is a red herring, perhaps a bit of rotten celluloid film and "not biological".

"We haven't discounted the possibility that there is a flesh and blood ninki-nanka in the swamps of West Africa, it's just at the moment the evidence is pointing to something more folkloric," he said.
 



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: africa; cryptozoology; dragon; expedition; folklore; gambia; myth; mythicalbeast; ninkinanka
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Expedition blog:

The 2006 Gambia Expedition

Also from The Independent (U.K.):

Independent Online Edition Science & Technology

The monster detectives: on the trail of the ninki-nanka

Once, the komodo dragon was thought to exist only in folklore. What other mythical beasts might we find if we look hard enough? Helen Brown meets the man on the trail of the ninki-nanka

Published: 12 July 2006

 
As you read this, a small group of intrepid, pink-nosed Brits are creeping through the Gambian jungle, dodging crocodiles and cobras, in the hope of spotting the legendary "ninki-nanka". (OK, it sounds like a Goon Show plot, but bear with me.) This fabulously named creature is said by locals to resemble a giant reptile, up to 30 feet long and dwelling in the murk of the mangrove swamps.

The "dragon" is rumoured to look rather like a game of zoological "consequences", possessing the body of a crocodile, the neck of a giraffe and the head of a horse with three horns. Less fantastically, the team's leader, Richard Freeman of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, suspects the ninki-nanka of being a species of colossal monitor lizard. "Whatever the truth," he says, "this is the first dedicated expedition to search for this animal."

(this is an excerpt...the rest is available only by paying)

1 posted on 07/15/2006 2:05:29 AM PDT by Stoat
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To: Stoat

It sounds like it might be radioactive.


2 posted on 07/15/2006 2:06:33 AM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: Stoat
"...(problematic to find because people die within weeks of seeing it)"

Ninka Nanka=Hokey Pokey for tourists or other suckers.

3 posted on 07/15/2006 2:13:58 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: All
Ninki-Nanka identification guide:

 

img215/7994/mini21mh.jpg

(NOT a Ninki-Nanka)

img81/311/spliff1ok.jpg

(Possibly someone who has seen a Ninki_Nanka)

 

img140/1646/stoat44vx.jpg

(NOT a Ninki-Nanka, this is a stoat)

 

4 posted on 07/15/2006 2:14:45 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: All
Ninki-Nanka?


5 posted on 07/15/2006 2:20:17 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Stoat

LOL


6 posted on 07/15/2006 2:22:08 AM PDT by CzarNicky (In the magical land of unicorns there's no need for clothes.)
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To: Stoat


Wait till they find out its not a dragon.
7 posted on 07/15/2006 2:24:53 AM PDT by kb2614 (Hell hath no fury than a bureaucrat scorned)
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To: coconutt2000
people die within weeks of seeing it

I hate it when that happens.

8 posted on 07/15/2006 2:27:49 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Peace begins in the womb.)
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To: kb2614
img205/6348/yellingbunnylg6.jpg

 

Be sure to have your Holy Hand Grenade nearby

img205/1136/holygrailholyhandgrndeaq2.jpg

9 posted on 07/15/2006 2:31:13 AM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: Jeff Chandler
people die within weeks of seeing it
I hate it when that happens.


Me too.
10 posted on 07/15/2006 2:31:49 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Roll your own cigarettes! You'll save $$$ and smoke less!(Magnetic bumper stickers-click my name)
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To: kb2614
Death, with big, pointy teeth! Run AWAY!!!!

Mark

11 posted on 07/15/2006 3:57:22 AM PDT by MarkL (When Kaylee says "No power in the `verse can stop me," it's cute. When River says it, it's scary!)
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To: Stoat

"It is described as having a horse-like face, a long body with mirror-like scales and a crest of skin on its head."

They're looking for Kerry. Someone tell them to head to DC.


12 posted on 07/15/2006 4:41:54 AM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: Stoat

Most people died (probably of malaria) after high fever induced hallucinations, etc. Either that or its Nettie over-wintering in the tropics.


13 posted on 07/15/2006 5:24:07 AM PDT by rod1
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To: Stoat

Sounds like the mokele mbembe (sp?) people have hunted for in the Congo region.


14 posted on 07/15/2006 6:11:55 AM PDT by rockprof
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To: Stoat

Far worse than Ninki-Nanka


15 posted on 07/15/2006 6:17:59 AM PDT by xp38
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To: Stoat

Maybe the Wilson-Plames know something about this. Wasn't he ambassador to Gambia?


16 posted on 07/15/2006 6:24:27 AM PDT by savedbygrace (SECURE THE BORDERS FIRST (I'M YELLING ON PURPOSE))
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To: Angelas; presidio9; Idisarthur; Hegemony Cricket; A knight without armor; new cruelty; SunkenCiv; ..
Image hosting by Photobucket
17 posted on 07/17/2006 2:14:17 PM PDT by pcottraux (It's pronounced "P. Coe-troe.")
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To: Stoat

Thanks for the ping! Good article.


18 posted on 07/17/2006 6:37:58 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (Life is like a cow pasture, it's hard to get through without stepping in some mess. NRA.)
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To: Inyo-Mono

I'm delighted that you liked it, and thank you for your kind words :-)


19 posted on 07/17/2006 6:42:57 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: rockprof

Rather except that people generally only die after supposedly eating mokele-mbembe.


20 posted on 07/17/2006 10:22:00 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (I traded freedom for security and all I got were these damned shackles.)
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