Buru
From: http://www.cryptozoology.com/glossary/glossary_topic.php?id=3
In 1947, Professor Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf -- an anthropologist -- wrote about a tribe known as the Apu Tanis, who lived in a very isolated, and near unknown valley in the Himalayas. The valley was said to cover twenty square miles, and despite the altitude, was swampy and thickly forested. Van Furer-Haimendorf's article included the following intriguing comment: "The bottom of the valley -- according to local tradition -- was once a marshy swamp inhabited by lizard-like monsters..."
A more detailed account of the buru was given to Charles Stonor, while visiting the valley with an Indian official. According to the Apu Tanis, the buru was a reptile about fifteen feet long, including neck and tail. It had a triangular shaped head, and its teeth were flat, except for four fang like teeth -- two in the upper jaw and two in the lower. It had stumpy legs with heavily clawed feet, and a long and powerful tail that was said to have a row of armoured plates along its length. Colouration was a mottled blue-black, with a whitish underbelly. Though there were one or two stories of buru attacking humans, the large reptiles generally kept to themselves, out of the way of man. It was said that the best time to actually see a buru was during hot summer months when the buru would sun themselves on the shore of their lake habitat, as they stayed in the muddy lake bottom in the colder months.
Unfortunately, as the human population in the valley expanded, the swamp was drained and the buru's habitat was reduced to a few deep pools. Eventually the animals were simply hunted and killed when they became a pain, and the pools were filled in. The buru had become extinct several generations before Mr. Stonor's visit to the valley.
In 1948, however, and expedition to the valley in search of buru evidence heard another interesting rumour -- the buru may have been extinct in the Apu Tanis valley, but was alive and well in the nearby Rilo valley. Understandably, the group switched its focus to the Rilo, but they came up empty -- they didn't see a buru, nor did they see any evidence of the buru's existence.
The Apu Tanis continue to insist that the buru did live in their valley, and still does live in the Rilo. |
