The Garta: Creatures Seen Near Basrah, Iraq
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 6th, 2007
Sightings Spread Horror, Conpiracy Theories Among Locals
By Zeyad Kasim, July 6, 2007
For over a month now, people in Basrah have been circulating rumors about a “strange,” bear-like deadly creature that attacks people at night with its strong claws. Locals in rural areas around Basrah claim it has killed three people and injured six others, and that it usually pounces on its victims as they are sleeping outdoors during hot summer nights, when electric power outages are common. Farmers at Garmat Ali, Abu Skheer, Jisr and Shikhatta were so alarmed, they assigned guarding duties at night to prevent its attacks, the Nahrain website and Radio Sawa reported last week.
Eventually, several animals were caught or killed – up to 28, locals claimed – and cell phone videos of them were published on Iraqi websites and forums. They closely resemble skunks, or most likely hog badgers – omnivorous mammals that are typically found in the Arab peninsula, but more commonly in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.
Residents of Garmat Ali, north west of Basrah, hanged one of the killed badgers on the Garma bridge that connects the southern city to the main Baghdad-Basrah highway, according to Mudhar Nazar, a resident interviewed by the pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily. “It looks like a dog, but its head looks like that of a bear,” said Nazar. “It has short hands and 15-cm-long claws, long hair, a penis like a man’s, and it only moves around at night.”
The animal is known locally as the Garta or ‘the muncher,’ and mothers in Basrah used to tell scary stories about the Garta to their children so they would not wander out alone at night. Old families in Basrah believe the animal brings bad luck because it is mostly found in cemeteries at night. The unusual phenomenon, however, is their sudden appearance in large numbers near the city and their increasingly aggressive behavior.
The rumors led people to indulge in conspiracy theories, speculating that U.S. or British forces have dropped large numbers of this animal, or its “eggs,” around Basrah in order to spread chaos and instability, while others say the animal crossed over from neighboring Iran through the marshes.
The mysterious origin of the badgers has become the talk of the town and outlandish stories have proliferated in Basrah as a result, local Slogger sources say. People are now sharing stories about British troops unleashing stray dogs – which locals have described as German Shepherds, known in Iraq as “police dogs.” British troops often release military dogs, used to detect explosives, on the streets when they become too old to perform their duties, said Abbas Kadhim, an Iraqi policeman in Basrah, according to Al-Hayat.
In the orchards of Abu Al-Khasib (20 km south east of Basrah), locals are talking about huge 6-metre-long snakes in water creeks, with one fisherman even claiming a seal (sea lion) fell into his nets. Fisherman in Faw, near the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, also claimed to have caught two Dolphins in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.
Authorities in Basrah have not commented on the rumors, but Dr. Mishtaq Abdul Mahdi, director of the Basrah Veterinary Hospital, dismissed them as nonsense and revealed that the hog badger is actually an indigenous animal that has been present in the marshes of southern Iraq and rural areas around Basrah for decades, in an interview with WNA News.
Dr. Abdul Mahdi said the hospital has so far received three of the badgers killed by farmers in Garmat Ali, Shikhatta and Abu Sikheer.
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Go to the source, here, to see the videos.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Interesting story. I watched the videos and those boogers have some pretty nasty claws! Pretty good size badgers. I’m pretty ignorant to the types of mammals in Iraq, other than the domesticated kind including horses, dogs, camels, etc. I usually just think of the spiders, snakes and such. Thanks for sharing this one.
It kinda looks like a badger. A badger, we don’t need no stinking badgers. I whole-heartedly beg for your forgiveness for that.
People sleeping outside in the dark during power outages? Reports of a strange animal that looks similar to native fauna causing hysteria? Hello, Monkey Man!
Why blame the Americans or the British for doing such untypical things? We know for a fact that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are operating in the area. The Brits who occupy that zone are forbidden to do anything but defend themselves.
I see a few possibilities:
Populations go through cycles, this could be an upswing for the badgers/wolverines.
Military activity in the marshes (probably Revolutionary Guards under the present rules of engagement) are driving them from one area to another.
Military activity in the Persian Gulf could be driving some dolphins and sea lions into the marshes to get away from the noise, etc.
Re: Abbas Kadhim’s quote above:
I have to say that I find it inconceivable that British police or armed forces would leave their dogs to fend for thmselves as this article suggests. Even if a member of the British forces attempted to do this his or her colleagues and superior officers would challenge it. The bond between serving personnel and their dog is too close – they would rather shoot it or have it put down humanely than abandon it.
I bet these badgers are as ferocious as wolverines. A badger like that can probably defeat a German Sheppard.
Neat. More stuff to learn about. Badger type critters in the desert.
This creature looks a lot like the African Honey Badger in the 1990 cult movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy”.
Remember it would not stop chasing the hero of the flick? The fur on it’s back seems a bit longer, but I bet it’s a closely related cousin.
There is a video clip of the badger scene at this link.
It looks to me like a honey badger i saw on the discovery channel a few years ago.
They are some bad animals.
Badger, Badger. MUSHROOM, MUSHROOM. *cough* excuse me. So would this be classified as an out of place animal report?
lol, Tobar, I was avoiding that one.
Honey badgers do indeed have a well deserved reputation for ferocity. I read a blog written by a man who lived in Africa who relayed tales of individuals killing wildabeast and water buffalo[?]. Think of a wolverine on steroids.
Complete nonsense. This alone is enough to disregard the entire article.
those things don’t look like they are big enough to KILL humans. or maybe i just have a bad comparison. still, those things have freakin’ big claws.