Agogwe
Encyclopedia
The agogwe is a purported small human-like biped reported from the forests of East Africa
. It is 1 to 1.7 m (3.3 to 5.6 ft) tall with long arms and long rust-coloured woolly hair and is said to have yellowish-red skin under its coat. It has also been reported as having black or grey hair. Its feet are said to be about 12 cm (5 in) long with opposable toes. Alleged differences between it and known apes include a rounded forehead, small canines and its hair and skin colour.
When Hitchens was criticized and ridiculed, Cuthbert Burgoyne wrote a letter to the magazine in 1938 recounting his sighting of something similar in 1927 while coasting Portuguese East Africa
in a Japanese cargo boat. They were close enough to shore that they could view the beach using a "glass of twelve magnifications" they watched a troupe of Baboons feeding and... " As we watched, two little brown men walked together out of the bush and down amongst the baboons. They were certainly not any known monkey and yet they must have been akin or they would have disturbed the baboons. They were too far away to be seen in great detail, but these small human-like animals were probably between four and five feet tall, quite upright and graceful in figure. At the time I was thrilled as they were quite evidently no beast of which I had heard or read. Later a friend and big game hunter told me he was in the Portuguese East Africa with his wife and three hunters, and saw a mother, father and child, apparently of the same species, walk across the further side of the bush clearing. The natives loudly forbade him to shoot." Without the quote, an account of Mr. Burgoyne's making such a report is given in.
Charles Cordier, a professional animal collector who worked for zoos and museums, followed the tracks of the kakundakari in Zaire
in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Once, said Cordier, a Kakundakari had become entangled in one of his bird snares. "It fell on its face," said Cordier, "turned over, sat up, took the noose off its feet, and walked away before the nearby African could do anything".
and the Congo region. About 1.7 m (5.6 ft) tall and covered with hair, they are said to walk upright like humans.
In the Ivory Coast it is known as the sehite.
"In Tanzania
and northern Mozambique
, they speak of the agogure or agogue, a human-like, long-armed pygmy with a coat the colour of fired earth. Although its appearance is said to be grotesque, the agogue is said to be more mischievous than menacing."
In another part of the world, in Sumatra
, there have been reports of a diminutive bipedal ape for at least 150 years. This cryptid is called Orang Pendek
.
Another, albeit unlikely, theory is the possible survival of gibbon
s in Africa
. Gibbons are lesser apes and are small, tail-less, with rounded foreheads and small canines. The biggest problem with this theory is that gibbons rarely walk on solid land and mainly locomote with their arms. It should be noted, however, that they are certainly capable of walking on the ground, and, when they do so, walk on two legs.
Another possibility is that a chimpanzee has adapted towards open country and has filled an Australopithecine-like niche.
Yet another possibility is that the agogwe are actually bonobo
s, chimp-like creatures who walk up right about ¼ of the time.
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
. It is 1 to 1.7 m (3.3 to 5.6 ft) tall with long arms and long rust-coloured woolly hair and is said to have yellowish-red skin under its coat. It has also been reported as having black or grey hair. Its feet are said to be about 12 cm (5 in) long with opposable toes. Alleged differences between it and known apes include a rounded forehead, small canines and its hair and skin colour.
Sightings
The first recorded sighting was in 1900 by a Captain William Hichens who reported his experience in the December 1937 edition of Discovery magazine thus: "Some years ago I was sent on an official lion-hunt in this area (the Ussure and Simibit forests on the western side of the Wembare plains) and, while waiting in a forest glade for a man-eater, I saw two small, brown, furry creatures come from dense forest on one side of the glade and disappear into the thickets on the other. They were like little men, about 4 feet high, walking upright, but clad in russet hair. The native hunter with me gazed in mingled fear and amazement. They were, he said, agogwe, the little furry men whom one does not see once in a lifetime."When Hitchens was criticized and ridiculed, Cuthbert Burgoyne wrote a letter to the magazine in 1938 recounting his sighting of something similar in 1927 while coasting Portuguese East Africa
Portuguese East Africa
Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...
in a Japanese cargo boat. They were close enough to shore that they could view the beach using a "glass of twelve magnifications" they watched a troupe of Baboons feeding and... " As we watched, two little brown men walked together out of the bush and down amongst the baboons. They were certainly not any known monkey and yet they must have been akin or they would have disturbed the baboons. They were too far away to be seen in great detail, but these small human-like animals were probably between four and five feet tall, quite upright and graceful in figure. At the time I was thrilled as they were quite evidently no beast of which I had heard or read. Later a friend and big game hunter told me he was in the Portuguese East Africa with his wife and three hunters, and saw a mother, father and child, apparently of the same species, walk across the further side of the bush clearing. The natives loudly forbade him to shoot." Without the quote, an account of Mr. Burgoyne's making such a report is given in.
Charles Cordier, a professional animal collector who worked for zoos and museums, followed the tracks of the kakundakari in Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Once, said Cordier, a Kakundakari had become entangled in one of his bird snares. "It fell on its face," said Cordier, "turned over, sat up, took the noose off its feet, and walked away before the nearby African could do anything".
Other names
The agogwe is also known as the kakundakari or kilomba in ZimbabweZimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
and the Congo region. About 1.7 m (5.6 ft) tall and covered with hair, they are said to walk upright like humans.
In the Ivory Coast it is known as the sehite.
"In Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and northern Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, they speak of the agogure or agogue, a human-like, long-armed pygmy with a coat the colour of fired earth. Although its appearance is said to be grotesque, the agogue is said to be more mischievous than menacing."
In another part of the world, in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, there have been reports of a diminutive bipedal ape for at least 150 years. This cryptid is called Orang Pendek
Orang Pendek
Orang Pendek is the most common name given to a cryptid, or cryptozoological animal, that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra....
.
Theories
If the agogwe does indeed exist, it could be a surviving species of Gracile australopithecine, a bipedal primate known to science from approximately 2.5-4.5 million years ago. Australopithecine footprints did have a somewhat diverged toe (although far from opposable), but the overall height and the rest of the description fit. At any rate, the Australopithecine foot could conceivably have changed over several million years.Another, albeit unlikely, theory is the possible survival of gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
s in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. Gibbons are lesser apes and are small, tail-less, with rounded foreheads and small canines. The biggest problem with this theory is that gibbons rarely walk on solid land and mainly locomote with their arms. It should be noted, however, that they are certainly capable of walking on the ground, and, when they do so, walk on two legs.
Another possibility is that a chimpanzee has adapted towards open country and has filled an Australopithecine-like niche.
Yet another possibility is that the agogwe are actually bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
s, chimp-like creatures who walk up right about ¼ of the time.