Scientists Confirm The Existence Of Mystery Apes In The Congolese Jungle

European scientists have confirmed the existence of legendary massive apes deep in the Congolese jungle that purported to kill lions, catch fish and even howl at the moon. Up until now, the bloody civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo had made it difficult reach the heart of the mysterious animals' range. But as reported by the Guardian, new research from the region seem to indicate the existence of a population of super-sized chimps with a unique culture - and it seems, a taste for big cat flesh.

The most detailed and recent data comes from Cleve Hicks, at the University of Amsterdam, who has spent 18 months in the field watching the Bili apes, which he named after a local town. After investigating the sounds of chimps calling for several days from the same pot, Hicks' team came across a chimp feasting on the carcass of a leopard. Hicks cannot be sure the animal was killed by the chimp, but the find lends credence to the apes' lion-eating reputation.

"What we have found is this completely new chimpanzee culture," said Hicks. For example, unlike their cousins in other parts of Africa, the super-sized chimps regularly bed down for the night in nests on the ground (rather than in the trees). "How can they get away with sleeping on the ground when there are lions, leopards, golden cats around as well as other dangerous animals like elephants and buffalo?" said Hicks. "I don't like to paint them as being aggressive, but maybe they prey on some of these predators and the predators [have learned to] leave them alone." "

Hicks also reports that the animals have what he calls a "smashing culture" - a blunt but effective way of solving problems. He has found hundreds of snails and hard-shelled fruits smashed for food, seen chimps carrying termite mounds to rocks to break them open and also found a turtle that was almost certainly smashed apart by chimps. Like chimp populations in other parts of Africa, the Bili chimps use sticks to fish for ants, but here the tools are up 8 feet long.

Behavior toward humans has also baffled and intrigued scientists. There is little to no aggression, yet no fear either. Unlike gorrillas, who will always charge when encountering a human, the Bili apes will typically come face-to-face with humans, stare intently in half-recognition, then slide away quietly. Hicks' group later expanded that observation, saying that when they encountered a large group of Bili apes in the deep forest (far from the roads and villages), they not only approached the humans, but would actually surround them with intent curiosity.

The most exciting thing about this population of chimps though is that it is much bigger than anyone realized and may be one of the largest remaining continuous populations of the species left in Africa. Hicks and his colleague Jeroen Swinkels surveyed an area of 7,000 square kilometres and found chimps everywhere. Their unique culture was uniform throughout.

However, the future for the Bili apes is far from secure. "Things are not promising," said Karl Ammann, an independent wildlife photographer who began investigating the apes 1996. "The absence of a strong central government has resulted in most of the region becoming more independent and lawless. In conservation terms this is a disaster."