In the deepness of the Congo Rainforest , it ’s said that a universe of savage gargantuan aper rule supreme . Known as the Bondo ape or Bili ape , muddy accounts of these creatures suggest they take the air on two feet , suffer the size of a grown man , and nest on the ground like gorillas . So the story go , they are ferociously aggressive and have picked up a report for being lion - killers . Some have argued they are a entirely newfangled mintage of great emulator , while others contend they are a loanblend of gorillas and chimpanzee .

Shocking reports about the Bondo copycat have been distribute for several tenner . While it ’s clear that something interesting is going on with the majuscule ape of the Congolese rainforest , it looks like many of the reports have been overstated and sensationalized . Like many story of this kind , the story of the Bili imitator is probable to be a blend of both fact and fable .

One of the first scientific efforts to tag down the closed book ape was made by Karl Ammann , a Swiss Kenyan photographer and environmentalist , in 1996 . Hereportedlycame across a number of skull held at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium that had been compile by Belgian colonizers near the town of Bili in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ) , about 200 kilometers ( 124 international mile ) eastward of the Ebola river .

The skulls featured a prominent “ mohawk ” ridge down the centre just like a Gorilla gorilla and , as such , were separate as gorillas . But something was off . Other aspects of the skull ’s shape and size were more like to a chimp , plus there were no known gorilla population living in the neighborhood where they were roll up .

Suspecting he might be on the leaflet of a new uncovering , Ammann ventured to the northern reaches of the DRC . Here , he speak to local hunters who told him about sighting of giant apes who killed Leo and were seemingly immune to poisonous dart . Creepily , these foreign beasts were also said to yaup at the full moon . He also buy photo from locals , showing mazed people posing with the hulk dead body of massive apes they had hunted .

Although his commission managed to document some extremely large chimpanzee poop and mold of footprints turgid than a gorilla ’s , there was no conclusive trial impression of the Bili ape .

Another quest to identify the whodunit ape add up in the summer of 2002 and 2003 . One of the investigator on the expedition was Dr Shelly Williams , whopurportedlyreturned from the trip to the DRC and gave interview to the media . This resulted in a number of mainstream publications like CNN , the Associated Press , and National Geographic reporting sensational articles about the Bondo chimp .

“ The larger animal had a much flatter face and true - across brow like gorillas and turned gray early in life [ … ] Two or three would nest on the ground , with others low in nearby subdivision . They made a decided vocalisation like a howling and were forte when the full moon rose and lay out [ … ] The apes , she argues , could be a new metal money obscure to scientific discipline , a new subspecies of chimpanzee or a hybrid of the gorilla and the chimp,”TIMEreported in 2003 .

However , in the following years , doubt was thrown onto these bluff claims . A few years after , primatologist Dr Cleve Hicks and his squad observed what were think to be Bili caricature for at least 20 hours in the wild .

As reported byNew Scientistin 2006 , Hicks argued they were almost certainly not a unexampled species of ape nor even a new race , but simply an interesting universe ofchimpanzees . DNA take from poop samples confirmed this and showed the animals were , as distrust , easterly chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii ) .

Hicks ' work showed that the Bili universe of chimpanzee was unusual , however . They did indeed have a ridge on their skull like a gorilla and made nests on the floor . They were alsoreportedsmashing up termite mounds and using a rock as an anvil to crack open up the shell of a tortoise , which is not distinctive of chimp conduct .

As for the claims of lion - eating and walk on two metrical foot , those claims have never been verified . Then again , the behavior of the Bili - Uéré realm chimp is still not completely understood , especially since the expanse has been subject to a act of war in past 10 that have disrupted preservation cause .

As ever , the mankind of majuscule ape isalways full of surprises .