Mokele-Mbembe: 2008 News

Mokele-mbembe being killed by Pygmies by Bill Rebsamen.

Cryptozoologist William Gibbons has news about his forthcoming book On The Track of Mokele-Mbembe: Africa’s Living Dinosaur, to be published in 2008, by Coachwhip:

I am continuing to work on the book, which is in three parts.

The first part covers the entire historical perspective on alleged living dinosaurs in Africa, including some wonderful never before published eye-witness accounts.

The second part of the book brings us up to date with modern expeditions and findings.

The third part of the book will focus on a few key cryptids that allegedly inhabit the Equatorial African region, including the giant spider. All the extended research and digging have been well worth it.

I found a very credible, first hand eye-witness account of Mokele-mbembe going back to 1890! Other close observations by Westerners were recorded from 1910 upwards, so it has been well worth the wait to unearth these little gems.

Plus, I now have very good photographs of famous key historical figures that I never thought I would ever find.

Mokele-mbembe by Bill Rebsamen. Click on image for a larger view.

Bill Rebsamen is working closely on the illustrations, including maps, charts, drawings and photographs.

This book will be a complete overview on the search for living dinosaurs in Africa, blending a little history on the continent, including some colonial era information. The book has been a real labor of love.

I know that Roy Mackal’s book, A Living Dinosaur? In Search of Mokele-mbembe will be hard to beat, but I am hoping that my book, On The Track of Mokele-mbembe, Africa’s Living Dinosaur, will be the very best, most up-to-date, most complete, most informative book ever written on this subject.

I have two other books planned on Africa cryptids and will start on these as soon as the new book is published. ~ Bill Gibbons

Other interesting items of note about cryptids, recently mentioned to me by Gibbons, may be included in his new book or the next ones:

Rev. Eugene Thomas and Sandy Thomas in 1986. Photograph courtesy of William Gibbons.

There are vague reports of giant, upright primates living deep in the Congo forest that are more fearsome than gorillas. I remember discussing this with the Aka pygmies in the Congo Republic back in 1986, through the late missionary, Gene Thomas. They may have been referring to the Bili Ape on the Belgian side of the Oubangui River as they also hunt there.

This is also a different creature than the much-feared Dodu, which is well known to the Baka in the Cameroon forests, and also appears to be present in the Congo forests.

On another note, the Baka people in Cameroon have mentioned that the Okapi is present in the forest there, suggesting that its range may extend well beyond the Uturi forest of Congo-Kinshasa. ~ Bill Gibbons

As far as the news of another book on Mokele-Mbembe, yes, John Kirk has one in the works too. But he tells me to not look for that before 2009 or 2010.

Loren Coleman 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.

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