Legend goes that, deep in the Congolese jungle, is a magic forest. In this fabled land live a band of apes that, according to local accounts, passed down over the generations, kill lions, catch fish and even howl at the moon.Local hunters speak of massive creatures that seem to be some sort of hybrid between a chimp and a gorilla. Their location at the centre of one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has meant that the mystery apes have been little studied by western scientists.
Reaching the region means negotiating the shifting fortunes of warring rebel factions, and the heart of the animals' range is deep in impenetrable forest. One set of speculation concludes that the apes may be some yeti-like new species or a chimp/gorilla hybrid. Another view is that they are actually a population of super-sized chimps with a unique culture - and it seems, a taste for big cat flesh.
Some expeditions have started venturing into the Congolese jungles in an attempt to track down these legendary creatures. Hopefully they will return – with news of unimaginable discoveries!
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