di Alex Mistretta - In southwestern Central African republic near the border with the Congo and Cameroon lies a forgotten jungle and a forgotten beast. Often confused with the more famous Mokele-mbembe, the Emela-ntouka is a very different animal. Described as the size of a hippo with a long powerful tail, quadrupedal, with a rhino like head, elephant type ears and a single horn on its snout. It is said to be very aggressive, especially towards elephants and hippos where the horn is used to dismember its victims by attacking the stomach area. If tales are to be believed these animals were much more widespread across Africa once upon a time, but have seriously diminished in numbers. Also called Chipekwe in some regions, it seems the Dzanga Sangha National Park and the Lobeke region as seen in the map below and the Kafue National Park in Zambia remain the last bastion of survival for these animals. I’ve also heard some discussion of late of sightings near Mokele-mbembe territory in Southern Cameroon near the Dja river. I do believe however that these animals get at times confused with the Mokele-mbembe. Mokele-mbembe is more reptilian looking with it’s long neck, small head, but is comparable in size with the Emela-ntouka, and share some traits such as being quadrupeds, spending a lot of time in the water, having a long and powerful tail, and a horn is also at times assigned to Mokele-mbembe which further confuses the issue. I’m skeptical of the horn on Mokele-mbembe personally and feel that it is based on confusion with the rhino like Emela-ntouka.