Land of Potter

Hunt for Gambia's mythical dragon

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".

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.

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. ...

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.

Hmm, that would be interesting--an animal that's evolved a survival mechanism that somehow kills any human that sees it. Maybe some sort of poison vapor?

It's also interesting that it may most resemble a Chinese dragon--who knows, maybe these ancient civilizations were on to something; after all, it wasn't that long ago that acupuncture was dismissed as Eastern mysticism.

In any case, the website for the Centre for Fortean Zoology almost seems like it's intended to dispel any notions anyone might have about the group's credibility.

It doesn't help that it's posted a child's drawing of the Ninki-nanka on its site.

Uncredited depiction from the expedition's blog via the BBC.