The Mngwa, which means the strange one, is described as an overly aggressive, unknown, big cat roughly the size of a donkey reported to roam the East African country of Tanzania. The natives of the area have known of the Mngwa for centuries but it wasn’t until the 1900’s that the English first became away of this powerful creature sometimes referred to as the great grey ghost. In the 1930’s and 1940’s the Mngwa was commonly referred to by the name of Nunda, but because of two books, written by Gardner Soule, The Mystery Monsters and The Maybe Monsters, along with the help of Bernard Heuvelmans, the name Mngwa is now more frequently used.
In 1938, an influential open minded discussion on the Mngwa appeared in the world famous British scientific journal Discovery. In 1954, in Nature Parade, romantic naturalist Frank W. Lane wrote of his interview with a hunter named Patrick Bowen who claimed to have once tracked a specimen of Mngwa.
Bowen noted that the Mngwa were similar to a leopard but much larger with fur that was brindled but visibly different from a leopard’s. Bernard Heuvelmans later theorized that the Mngwa may have been an abnormally colored specimen of already known big cat, several of which call Africa home, he also added that the Mngwa may be a larger subspecies of the ground hunting African golden cat, Profelis aurata.
To date no physical evidence has been discovered to support the existence of the Mngwa.
It is not specified if hunter Patrick Bowen actually saw the Mngwa he tracked or simply heard the creature’s descriptions from locals. No other documented sightings of the creature could be found at this time.
The Stats – (Where applicable)
• Classification: Hybrid /Other
• Size: Roughly that of a Donkey
• Weight: Unknown
• Diet: Carnivorous
• Location: East Africa
• Movement: Four legged walking
• Environment: Forest