December 7, 2012

Man v. Monster: Brazilian Bigfoot on Nat Geo Wild Tonight!

Man v. Monster: Brazilian Bigfoot
Premieres on Nat Geo Wild at 10pm ET Friday 7th December

Photograph by Nat Geo Wild / Optomen / Jeff Allen
Richard Terry sets up cameras in the Brazilian rainforest.

For generations, tales of a creature called the mapinguari have been passed down among Amazonian villagers. They describe a tall, shaggy beast that attacks with little warning, calling out with a deafening roar. In the world’s largest rainforest, new species are discovered every few days, and after hearing stories from villagers who claim they came face to face with the creature, Richard Terry tries to determine whether the mapinguari is more than a myth.

Richard Terry, host of the show and a fan of Cryptomundo, offered his personal thoughts for this episode to be shared with the Cryptomundians:

For Man v Monster series 2 we filmed two stories in Brazil back-to-back, ‘Amazon River Beast’ & ‘Brazilian Bigfoot’. The second of these was the story that concerned me the most as it would be directly dealing with a mythical Bigfoot-like creature known in Brazil as the Mapinguari.

On the previous episodes, our aim was to find out what were the real animals behind mythological creatures that indigenous people from some pretty far-flung locations, believe were responsible for gruesome and often fatal attacks on their kin. We also set out to discover why animals known to us from the outset such as the Bengal tiger, had been on a man-eating spree – incidence of which are on the rise in the Sundarbans region of India and Bangladesh.

As the team & I entered the arrival hall of Manaus airport, gateway to the Amazon region, I saw the familiar face of my guide Samuel who I’d previously spent a memorable couple of weeks a year earlier, looking for a Goliath Bird Eating spider. As soon as we started to catch-up over strong coffee, he started to tell me about his exhaustive efforts to find people who could give me eye witness accounts of encounters with the Mapinguari.

It was in the airport that my enthusiasm for this story changed when I saw in the eyes of a man I trust, excitement and belief as he explained the accounts of one man’s encounter with this legendary beast – a man that Samuel trusts beyond any other, his own father. He told me these discussions had never happened in any depth until now during his research quest. He was shocked to discover that his own family had a connection to the Mapinguari legend and had experienced a graphic and memorable attack.

Samuel explained that his father could clearly recount what he had been told by his own father, Samuel’s grandfather, about a terrifying encounter with the Mapinguari in the remote border region of Brazil & Venezuela. He said that he came face to face with an unearthly beast. He was convinced it was the Mapinguari, which had entered his remote cabin at night. It was so large that when it stood upright roaring at him, it lifted the wooden ceiling. Apparently the creature knocked the man to the ground with one powerful lunge of its arm, breaking his jaw. He believes he was only able to save himself having had a gun which he used to fire a round directly into the shaggy haired monster that fled leaving a trail of blood.

When I looked directly into master tracker & guide Samuel’s eyes and saw not a glimmer of mischievousness, I knew the story was on.

The premiere of Brazilian Bigfoot is broadcast in the US on Nat Geo Wild at 10pm ET Friday 7th December.Richard Terry

Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Expedition Reports, Eyewitness Accounts, Folklore, Mapinguary, Men in Cryptozoology, Photos, Sasquatch, Television, Videos