Article Surfing Archive

The Agogwe is a small furry, human like biped (walks on two feet). It is has been spotted in the forests of East Africa. The Agogwe is said to be clad in reddish brown hair, and has reddish brown skin underneath its wooly fur. It is about 1 to 1.7 meters tall and has long arms. The Agogwe's feet are about 12 centimeters long and these creatures are said to have opposable toes. The Agogwe is different from other known ape species because of their fur and skin color as well as the presence of small canines and a rounded forehead. The Agogwe goes by other names and they are as follows: Kakundakari or Kilomba in Zimbabwe and the Congo. The people at the Ivory Cost refer to this creature as the Sehite. In Sumatra, reports of a bipedal ape that resemble the Agogwe have been reported; such creatures are called Orang Pendek.

The first recorded sighting of the Agogwe was in 1900 by a man named Captain William Hitchens. Hitchens however did not report his sighting until 1937. He described the creatures he saw to be like man, 4 feet tall but clad in russet hair. He was informed by a native hunter that accompanied him that what they saw was a creature known as the Agogwe and the sightings of such a creature was rare. Captain Hitchens was criticized for his 'so called' sighting, but like a saving grace, Cuthbert Burgoyne announced a year later that he saw a similar creature when he was coasting Portuguese East Africa. Burgoyne also recounted the experience of a big game hunter who had similar sightings of the said creature.

There are several theories surrounding the existence of the Agogwe. It is said that this red haired bipedal creature may be a surviving species of the Gracile Australopithecine ' which is known to be a bipedal primate known to science that lived in Eastern and Northern Africa around 3 to 3.9 million years ago. Gracile Australopithecine footprints that have been found show no evidence of opposable toes, but it is argued that the Agogwe may have acquired opposable toes through years of evolution. One other theory suggests that Agogwe sightings may have in reality been sightings of possible surviving gibbons in the African forest. Gibbons like the Agogwe have rounded foreheads and small canines. It is however important to note that the Gibbons mainly used their arms for locomotion and that they are rarely seen on land.

There have been no current sightings on the Agogwe. The most recent documented one was that of the Animal Collector Charles Cordier in the late 1950s and early part of the 1960s. Cordier had followed the tracks of the Kakundakari of Zimbabwe. He noted that once a Kakundakari had become entangled in trap but was able to escape before any of the members of his team could reach it. There haven't been any sightings later than that of Cordier, but it does not mean that the Agogwe was only a fluke. It only stands as a testament to the density and the vastness of the African Jungles.

There is a website that describes the Agogwe and numerous other creatures of Cryptozoology in detail, this website is called: Unknown Creatures and it may be found at this url: http://www.unknown-creatures.com

You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.