Giant Monkey

Reports from around the globe describe what appear to be enormous monkeys.

Asians give the name for the mountain range that includes Mount Everest as Mahalanguar Himal, which translates as “The Mountains of the Great Monkeys.” South Americans report sightings of Giant Monkeys dating back to the nineteenth century. In North America, these animals are sometimes referred to as “Devil Monkeys” by such researchers as Mark A. Hall, while eyewitnesses report having seen “mystery kangaroos.” Loren Coleman investigated the 1973 case of livestock killings at Albany, Kentucky, caused by three Giant Monkeys, each with a long, black bushy tail. In 1969, Bigfoot researchers John Green and René Dahinden investigated reports of a large, monkey-like animal with a long tail, seen near Mamquam, British Columbia. In both Kentucky and British Columbia, the animals left distinctive three-toed tracks.

Giant Monkeys are said to be four to six feet tall. The smaller juveniles often resemble wallabies or “baby kangaroos.” The mode of leaping to move around has also caused them to be confused with kangaroos. They have a barrel chest, thick arms, powerful legs, and a bushy tail. Their faces are baboon- or dog-like, with dark, “mean” eyes and pointed ears. They have short to shaggy hair, varying in color from red to black. Their footprints are about twelve inches long, but tracks up to fifteen inches have been found, getting thinner the longer they get. Distinctive footprints show three rounded toes.

The animals can be obstinate toward canines and humans, and eyewitnesses sometimes merely comment on the creatures’ aggressive looks. Though generally thought to be vegetarians, they may kill livestock and small game. Giant Monkeys exhibit a wide range of primate hoots, calls, screeches, whistles, and “blood-chilling screams.” Their smell has compounded the identification problem, as some are labeled as Skunk Apes.

Bernard Heuvelmans, when commenting on Giant Monkey reports he considers valid, points to finds in India of a giant baboon, Simopithecus, twice as big as the largest baboon, literally a giant form of Theropithecus gelada, the gelada baboon of Ethiopia. He notes that paleontologist Robert Broom found fossils of a similar giant baboon, Dinopithecus. Writing in the 1950s, Heuvelmans wondered if these two could have something to do with the native legends of the Nandi Bear. From his own later research, Hall concluded that the American version of the Giant Monkey seemed identical to Simopithecus. Recent fossil finds of a giant howler-spider monkey in South America may have some bearing on these accounts.

Hall, in decades-long discussions with Loren Coleman, developed the concept of the Giant Monkey. The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide, by Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe (1999), is the first book to formalize the use of the phrase “Giant Monkey” to describe this group of reports.

SOURCE:

The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters,Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature
Written by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark – Copyright 1999 Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark