Bili Ape
From The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project
The so-called Bili Ape, or Bondo Mystery Ape, is a primate native to the Bili Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. National Geographic reports that "The apes nest on the ground like gorillas but have a diet and features characteristic of chimpanzees."
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Characteristics
The ape has been reported to walk upright, bipedally, and looks like a giant chimpanzee. One skull has been recovered that has the prominent brow ridge and sagittal crest of a robust great ape, or gorilla, but other morphological measurements are more like those of chimpanzees. The apes eat mainly fruit, and fruiting trees (such as strangler figs) are visited often.
The apes behave like gorillas. They build ground nests with relatively elaborate construction, using interwoven branches and/or saplings, bent down into a central bowl (in addition to the tree nests favored by other chimpanzees). They seldom bother to climb trees, do not succumb to the poison arrows shot by native hunters, and hoot at the rising moon - unafraid of predators like their gracile relatives. The indigenous people of the region call them "lion killers".
Furthermore, the animals' behaviour towards people was baffling: "Gorilla males will always charge when they encounter a hunter, but there were no stories like that," Ammann says. Instead, these apes would come face-to-face with their human cousins, stare intently in half-recognition, then slide away quietly. No aggression, yet no fear either.
Group Hunting
Shelly Williams, a primatologist affiliated to the renowned Jane Goodall Institute, has revealed her close - and chilling - encounter with the creatures in the current issue of New Scientist.
"We could hear them in the trees, about 10m away, and four suddenly came rushing through the brush towards me. If this had been a mock charge they would have been screaming to intimidate us. These guys were quiet, and they were huge. They were coming in for the kill - but as soon as they saw my face they stopped and disappeared."
She described them saying: "They have a very flat face, a wide muzzle and their brow-ridge runs straight across and overhangs. They seem to turn grey very early in life, but instead of turning grey-black like a gorilla, they turn grey all over."
Scientific analysis
Esteban Sarmiento and George Schaller have investigated the Bili Ape reports.
The mixture of traits has led to questions of taxonomic classification. Initial results from mitochondrial DNA analysis of faecal samples indicate that the 'mystery ape' is a Common Chimpanzee (subspecies Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Scientists believe they are dealing with a very inbred and marginal population, in which even a large number of animals could share identical or near identical haplotypes.
See Also
External links
- KarlAmmann.com - The Bondo Mystery Apes: Winter 2004 Field Data
- Primates.com - Seeking answers to big 'mystery ape'
- NationalGeographic.com - Elusive African Apes: Giant Chimps or New Species?
- JaneGoodall.org - Jane Goodall Institute
Copyright
"Original data received from Wikipedia on April 22, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen Here."
