Life in the Fast Lane

The mapinguary — pronounced ma-ping-wahr-EE — is a giant slothlike monster. The name is translated as ‘the roaring animal’ or ‘fetid beast’. Just the mere mention of the mapinguary is enough to send shivers down the spines of the most valiant of the fearless, and almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest. Photo – A statue depicting mapinguary at Rio Branco, Brazil – Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times

Folklore of tales of close encounters with the mapinguaryis is rampant in almost every Indian tribe in the Amazon, even amongst those that have had no contact with one another.

Recent widespread and consistent reports have spawned organized expeditions by scientists in attempt to find the creature. So far all have been fruitless, but one scientist states he can explain the beast and its origins.

“It is quite clear to me that the legend of the mapinguary is based on human contact with the last of the ground sloths thousands of years ago.” said David Oren, a former director of research at the Goeldi Institute in Belém. “We know that extinct species can survive as legends for hundreds of years. But whether such an animal still exists or not is another question, one we can’t answer yet.â€?

Dr. Oren said he had spoken with a couple of hundred people who had said they had seen the mapinguary in the most remote parts of the Amazon and a handful who had said they had had direct contact.

New York Times reports that some areas claim the creature has two eyes, while in others account it has only one, likened to the Cyclops of Greek mythology. Some tell of a gaping, stinking mouth in the monster’s belly through which it consumes humans unfortunate enough to cross paths with it.

But all accounts agree that the creature is tall, seven feet or more in height, emits a strong, extremely disagreeable odor, and has thick matted fur, blanketing a skin that makes it impermeable to bullets and arrows.

“The only way you can kill a mapinguary is by shooting at its head.� said Domingos Parintintin, a tribal leader in Amazonas State. “But that is hard to do because it has the power to make you dizzy and turn day into night. So the best thing to do if you see one is climb a tree and hide.�

Geovaldo Karitiana, a member of the Karitiana tribe, claims to have seen one 3 years ago while hunting in the jungle near an area that his tribe calls ‘the cave of the mapinguary’.

“It was coming toward the village and was making a big noise.� he said. “It stopped when it got near me, and that’s when the bad smell made me dizzy and tired. I fainted, and when I came to, the mapinguary was gone.�

Mr. Karitiana’s father Lucas confirmed his son’s account. He said that when his son took him back to the site of the encounter, he saw a cleared pathway where the creature had disappeared, “as if a boulder had rolled through and knocked down all the trees and vines.�

Descriptions of the mapinguary may resemble the sasquatch of North America or the yeti of Himalayas, but that’s where the similarities end. It’s said that rather than fleeing from human contact, the creature aggressively hunts down the hunter, turning the tables on those who don’t respect the jungle’s unwritten rules and limits.

“Often, the mapinguary gets revenge on people who transgress, who go where they shouldn’t go or harvest more animals or plants than they can consume, or set cruel traps.� said Márcio Souza, a Brazilian novelist and playwright who lives in Manaus in the central Amazon, and often writes on Amazon history and folklore.

Amazon legends are riddled with whimsical creatures that are used to explain unwelcome or embarrassing phenomena. The boto is a type of dolphin that’s said to be able to transform itself into human form, wearing a white hat to cover its air spout, and seducing and impregnating young virgins.

When a hunter or woodsman gets lost in the jungle, he often blames the curupira, a mischievous red-haired elf whose feet face backwards and takes great pleasure in creating trails that lead travelers astray. And when an experienced navigator inexplicably disappears or drowns in calm waters, he is usually said to have fallen victim to the iara, a cross between a siren and a mermaid.

“If you’re a rubber tapper and you’re returning to camp empty-handed, you’d better have a pretty good explanation for your boss.� said Marcos Vinícius Neves, director of the government’s department of historical and cultural patrimony in Acre State. “The mapinguary is the best excuse you could possible imagine.�

Writer Mr. Souza is among those who believe the mapinguary is a myth. The deforestation of the Amazon has accelerated so rapidly over the last generation he argues, that if the creature really existed, “there would have been some sort of close encounter of the third kind by now.�

The giant ground sloth, Megatherium, was once one of the largest mammals to walk the earth, bigger than a modern day elephant. Abundant and widespread fossil evidence from thousands of years ago is found as far south as Chile and as far north as Florida.

“When you travel in the Amazon, you are constantly hearing about this animal, especially when you are in contact with indigenous peoples.� said Peter Toledo, an expert on sloths at the Goeldi Institute. “But convincing scientific proof, in the form of even vestiges of bones, blood or excrement, is always lacking.�

Glenn Shepard Jr., an American ethnobiologist and anthropologist based in Manaus, said he was among the skeptics until 1997, when he was doing research about local wildlife among the Machiguenga people of the far western Amazon, in Peru. Tribal members all mentioned a fearsome slothlike creature that inhabited a hilly, forested area in their territory.

Dr. Shepard said “The clincher that really blew me away came when a member of the tribe remarked matter of factly that he had also seen a mapinguary at the natural history museum in Lima.” Dr. Shepard verified that the museum has a diorama with a model of the giant prehistoric ground sloth.

“At the very least, what we have here is an ancient remembrance of a giant sloth, like those found in Chile recently, that humans have come into contact with.â€? he said. “Let me put it this way — just because we know that mermaids and sirens are myths doesn’t mean that manatees don’t exist.â€?

“There’s still an awful lot of room out there for a large sloth to be roaming around.� Dr. Shepard said.

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