THE MONSTROUS MAPINGUARI

Greetings once again, seekers of the strange! I’ve put on my monster hunting shoes again and this time I’ve grabbed a lot of insect repellant as well, because I’m headed to the depths of the Amazon Rainforest in search of that maddening, marauding mystery creature best known as the Mapinguari!

This critter was extremely obscure outside of the Amazon until the 1990’s, when it gained a lot of traction due to the theory it was a surviving giant sloth. We will be looking at that idea in detail here, as well as alternate theories and possible folkloric explanations. But first, we need to figure out just what a Mapinguari is.

Descriptions vary, but some things about it are constant. It is huge in stature, usually larger than a man. It’s covered by thick fur. It has huge claws and a nasty disposition. And it really, really stinks! Another common feature that is very strange is that its feet are “backwards”, a sure sign it is a demonic beast. Depending on what indigenous tribe is describing it, it may also have just one huge eye in its head, ala the Cyclops. It is supposed to be invulnerable to arrow and even rifle fire, with a kind of bony “pelt” that resists projectiles. Sometimes it is said to have a gaping fanged mouth in the stomach area.

It sounds like purest fantasy and indeed, many believe it is strictly a monster of native folklore instead of a physical beast. But many have reported on it as a physical being and it is not only primitive tribes people who have seen it, but people from other countries as well. Reports of the monster are so pervasive that it seems sure that there is something tangible behind all the tales.Well, here at Wormwood, we’re out to find out what that something is.

Of course, the indigenous people have always known of the mapinguari. The name itself seems to have originated with the Guarani tribe; it is a compound word meaning “the thing with the backward feet”. Other tribes have different names for it, such as “segamai”, “kida harara” and “owojo”, among others. But there’s no doubt it refers to the same being. The creature is regarded with awe and fear by the natives. In some cultures, it is seen as a guardian spirit of the forest, in a similar fashion to how Native American tribes regard Sasquatch. There are small variations in descriptions, but some characteristics are universal. These include the very thick fur, usually described as reddish or dark brown, the curious “backward” feet and very long, sharp claws capable of disemboweling a man. Some, but not all, mention it having just one huge eye. It is also accompanied by a stench so horrible that it can knock a person out.

These all sound like fantastic traits, but we will actually find out there is an actual prehistoric creature that has many of these characteristics. We’ll discuss that part of the mapinguari mystery a little bit later.

The Mapinguari emerges as a frustrating Frankenstein-like creation, a creature stitched together from various folklore, myths and sightings. Some of the European sightings seem to describe something more like a South American Bigfoot, a giant primate. In some cases, it’s like a giant spider monkey. Many other reports tell of a creature that does not normally walk on two feet and which is naturally more of a quadruped. This gives it a bear-like vibe. But then there are those reports that emphasize the more outlandish characteristics, like a Cyclopean single eye and a gaping saw tooth mouth in its stomach. The task is to sift through all the different versions to try and find the “true” mapinguari. And that is not proving to be easy.

There has been no shortage of sightings of the mapinguari by both native and foreign witnesses, but major physical evidence has been hard to come by. No known photo of the beast has ever been confirmed. Giant primates like Bigfoot and Australia’s Yowie have produced quite a number of photos, most of which are admittedly blurry and inconclusive. But there’s not even a blurry photo of the mapinguari. Some hairs have been found and examined, but found to belong to rare creatures like the giant anteater.

There have been numerous mapinguari tracks. Most have been examined by Dr. David Oren, the world’s #1 expert on the cryptid and seem to support his theory of a giant sloth type creature making them. Deep claw marks found on trees are said to be made by the mapinguari …some have definitely been made by giant anteaters and jungle cats. But some do seem to have the characteristics of a giant sloth.

Early Europeans believed the mapinguari to be purely mythical, but as sightings increased, the opinion switched over to some kind of giant monkey or ape. There have been many rumors of giant monkeys in South America, which are called “mono grande” by natives. The famous DeLoys photograph ignited a flood of interest in giant monkeys, but the prevailing opinion is that the photograph is a complete hoax. The muddled folklore of numerous indigenous tribes confused the issue.

An intriguing new theory was proposed in 1993 by Dr. Oren…that the mapinguari was a surviving giant sloth from prehistoric days. Many of the descriptions seemed to fit the sloth identity more than an ape or monkey. Now the common image many folks today have of a sloth is a painfully slow tree dwelling beast with a smiling face and huge claws that’s about the size of a medium dog. That indeed is the most common sloth, but in prehistoric times, there were many versions of sloth-kind. The hugest was the gigantic megatherium, a truly titanic beast close to an elephant in size. These giants were slow-moving herbivores that fed on trees by using their terrifying giant claws to pull branches to their blubbery lips. I have seen the skeleton of a megatherium at the Field Museum in Chicago…this critter was a real giant. Its leg bones were the size and thickness of small trees. Boy, sure wish I had one roaming around my back yard.

There were also “medium sloths” like the Mylodon, about the size of a large man. These beasts were fast, not slow, and also had nasty claws. These sloths would not have had the calm disposition of their modern brethren. They would have been deadly creatures to face in a fight. Some recent research has revealed that these sloths may not have been strictly vegetarian as was previously thought. Some may have been omnivorous, capable of eating meat and plant matter both.

The legends of the beast all mention its terrible odor. This is common also in reports of Bigfoot and other man-like monsters, but many of the mapinguari reports mention that there is a “second mouth” in the stomach area and that this is where the stench comes from. Giant sloths may have actually possessed a scent gland in the stomach that released the foul odor as a defense mechanism, as a skunk does. Some of the natives called the mapinguari “the beast with the breath of hell” and said the odor was so strong it could knock a man out. It may also be that its very thick fur is not properly groomed and in a humid tropical environment, it could also produce a terrible smell. 

Sightings tapered off for a while after Inocencio’s encounter but they started to pick up again in the 1980’s and have remained steady ever since. The last major sighting I’m aware of was in 2014, when a group of berrypickers in Brazil had a frightening night-time encounter with a monstrous beast. They heard and smelled the creature before they saw it, but it eventually entered their camp, which was hours from the nearest village. This was one of the few modern reports where the mapinguari was described as having a single red eye. Terrified, the men jumped into their canoes and left their equipment behind. They paddled straight through to the village, a journey of hours and none of these men ever returned to that part of the jungle again.

Once a very obscure cryptid, the notoriety of the mapinguari has exploded in the last couple of decades. Most of this was due to Dr. Oren’s relentless research and pursuit of the monster. Like many cryptozoologists, Oren has had to suffer from the disdain of many for his belief in an unknown monster. Yet his theory that the mapinguari is a surviving prehistoric ground sloth has become by far the most prevalent one concerning the animal.

Numerous TV shows and podcasts have been dedicated to the search for the elusive creature, including a famous episode of “Monster Hunters” which found Josh Gates talking to many witnesses and experts on the beast. It is true that the Amazon and other South American jungles are retreating under the ceaseless exploitation of man, but there are still millions of acres that have rarely been explored. Many cryptozoologists believe the mapinguari is one of the most likely “mystery creatures” to be discovered.

So the race is on to get proof of the mapinguari’s existence before it becomes extinct…if it hasn’t already. I don’t think that is an immediate threat. It lives in the deepest and most inaccessible parts of the jungle, areas where even miners and loggers find it difficult to work. There I hope it can live in safety for a while yet.

One thing’s for sure though…I’d hate to run across one of these guys in the dead of a Brazillian night!

This is Dr. Abner Mality, turning out the lights.