Africa is the apparent birthplace of man. It was nursery to such early forms of hominids as the Australopithecines of more than 5 million years ago, the tool-making Homo habilis, and the upright, bipedal Homo erectus. But reports of other strange beasts having both ape-like and human-like attributes still persist in Africa.

For example: there is the South African Waterbobbejan (Water-baboon) which, since the early 19th century, has been said to prowl about the outskirts of farms and outlying dwellings, raiding and terrifying inhabitants of the northern parts of South Africa. Rumours of the Waterbobbejan's existence have persisted since the 1880s; the most recent report was made in 1965 when two boys spotted it on the 'Leeufontein' (Lion Fountain) farm, between Koster and Swartruggens, and was published in the newspaper Die Vaderland.

In Tanzania and northern Mozambique, they speak of the Agogure or Agogue, a human-like, long-armed pygmy with a coat the colour of fired earth. Although its appearance is grotesque, the Agogue is said to be more mischievous than menacing. Similar creatures have been described in Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and the Congo Basin.

The obvious question is, what are these creatures? The conformity of descriptions among these diverse groups surely can't be coincidental? If this conformity illuminates what lies behind the man-ape enigma locally, perhaps the observations from southern Africa will provide researchers with a few more pieces to fit into the more general puzzle.

In the 1860s, sightings were made of a gigantic, ape-like creature which visited farms by night. Farmers in the Dinoka area, especially, lost livestock - mostly sheep but also cattle and goats - killed in a manner which could not possibly have been attributed to any of the known natural predators such as leopard, lion, hyena or jackal. These killings were very different. One particular tale tells of a prize bull that did not return home in the evening with the rest of the herd. When the farmer searched for him the next morning, he found the bull's remains completely dismembered.

Stories tell of stock forced from their kraals (enclosures) in the dark by what farm labourers described as a "huge, ape-like creature". It was tremendously strong and sometimes seen leaping over the enclosure walls with terrified animals under its arms. Other farmers experienced damage to their fruit trees that, according to eyewitnesses, had been stripped of all their oranges by an enormous ape-like creature. At the turn of the century, members of the Venter family were adamant that they experienced the creature at close-hand and described it as being taller than a man with long, powerful arms and reddish hair. It resembled a baboon but was obviously much bigger and, unlike baboons, it was shy and solitary.