#asian cryptid

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The Tarand, or Parandrus, was originally documented in book 8 of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History which is estimated to have been written in 77 A.D. It was additionally written about by Aristotle, Aelian, and Francois Rabelais' book Pantagruel, written in 1552.

This creature is thought to have had camouflage as it was described as being able to conceal itself by changing its appearance to match its surroundings. Pliny wrote, “In Scythia there is a beast called Tarandus, which chaungeth likewise colour as the Chamæleon: and no other creature bearing haire doth the same.” In its natural state, it was said to have long fur “colored like a bear”, cloven hooves, the head of a stag, long branching antlers, and was the size of an ox.

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The Mysterious Flying Monkeys of Southeast Asia | Mysterious Universe

Extremely rare flying primates can only be found in one remote part of the world.

[dailycryptodrawings]

771: Mongolian Death Worm

We barely consider what lurks below our very feet, so much surface untouched...

Requested by: @legiblestew

Tibetan Throat Singing

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The yamapikarya, or "creature that emits light from its eyes in the mountains", is a cryptid feline that is said to reside in Japan. This mystery feline is specifically reported on Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan.

Witnesses report it to be between 5 and 6.5 feet in length, not counting its long tail that hangs low to the ground. The animal's fur is reported to be yellowish or brown with leopard-like spots. However, some witnesses recall it being more of a green color.

Shimane University ichthyologist Hideo Akiyoshi reportedly came across a yamapikarya while conducting a fish survey. On September 14th, 2007, Hideo had been visiting Iriomote Island's Sakiyama peninsula for his studies. Once the animal noticed him, it turned and ran away. That didn't stop the fear Hideo had felt. He recalled: "At first I thought a wild boar was walking toward me, but when it came right in front of me, my eyes met those of a leopard-like creature. I was scared, thinking, 'I'm going to be attacked'."

Many believe that the yamapikarya could be rare sightings of the iriomote cat. The iriomote cat is an incredibly rare species; one that only resides on Iriomote island. Fewer than 250 adult iriomote cats remain in the wild.

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This statue of the Lake Imba Monster was created by the Yachiyo Natural History Museum in 2020.

On September 25th, 1843, a group of laborers and government officials were said to have encountered this monster in a terrible event. The men claimed to have been overcome by a monsterous rainstorm around 6 in the morning. The enormous, 15 foot tall creature appeared out of the foaming waters of Lake Imba. It was said to have called the lightning to strike the men, killing over a dozen of them in an instant.

The monster vanished after this encounter, never having been seen again. The statue is based on this recorded sighting of the creature, causing many to believe the monster was likely a seal. Others believe that it was all just a story made up by the laborers to protest the grueling work at the lakeside.

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This illustration of a yellow-belly sea monster was drawn by Philippe Coudray for his 2009 book Guide des Animaux Cachés. Often times, these are simply referred to as yellow-bellies. They are described as incredibly large and typically tadpole shaped. Cryptozoologists such as Bernard Heuvelmans and Roy P Mackal used the yellow-belly as a specific type of sea serpent to classify sightings as. Though, Heuvelmans later stopped using this classification.

One famous encounter with a yellow-belly sea monster was on September 11, 1876 and took place off the coast of Malaysia. The steamer ship Nestor was carrying a small crew, including Captain John K. Webster and a surgeon named James Anderson. Anderson and Webster witnessed an enormous creature that they estimated to be between 60 and 100 feet in length. It had a large, flat head that was directly connected to its body, meaning there was no classic long neck of a sea monster. It was stated in the Captain and surgeon’s sworn affidavit:

“The body and tail were marked with alternate bands of stripes, black and pale yellow in colour. The stripes were distinct to the very extremity of the tail. I cannot say whether the tail terminated in a fin or not. The creature possessed no fins or paddles so far as we could perceive. I cannot say if it had legs. It appeared to progress by means of an undulatory motion of the tail in a vertical plain (that is, up and down).”

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This is a cast of a supposed rock ape footprint taken in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam. The rock apes are a proposed bigfoot-like creature that roam the jungles of Vietnam. This particular cast was taken in April of 1982 by Professor Tran Hong Viet. It measured out to being 11 inches long and 4.5 inches wide.

Legends of rock apes go back for hundreds of years. In the 1970s, the interest in the creature grew, including a Vietnamese government sponsored expedition to find them in 1974. In the later years of the Vietnam War, both American and Vietnamese soldiers claimed to see mysterious humanoid creatures in the trees. But seeing them wasn't enough, the soldiers were often confronted by these creatures. The rock apes reportedly tossed boulders at the soldiers, no matter what side they were fighting for.

US Army Sergeant Kregg Jorgenson wrote about one particular encounter in his book, Strange But True Stories of the Vietnam War:

“It was a hot day. The six men from the 101st Airborne Division were taking a break in the middle of a mountainous jungle when the event took place. Suddenly, according to the men, a few small trees located fifteen yards uphill began clearly shaking. The soldiers had trained for this, and as they got ready for combat to fight the expected VC soldiers jumping out the bushes, they never imagined what they saw next.”

A long, cucumber-shaped head showed up. The face, the soldiers said, was covered in red hair with a pair of dark eyes and a huge mouth. The creature then stepped out of the vegetation into a clearing, allowing the group to observe the rest of its muscular body, which was also featured by the same type of red hair. It wasn’t taller than five feet and walked upright. It stopped, looked at them as though scrutinizing each of the soldiers.”

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This image is supposedly showing the Lake Ikeda Monster, a mysterious beast that resides in the waters of Japan. Issie, as it is lovingly named, first became known after a sighting in the spring of 1978. However, this image was captured on December 16th, 1978.

This photograph was taken by Toshiaki Matsubara, who had been visiting the lake for days prior just hoping to see the monster that lived there. He claimed that he had seen a strange vortex swirling in the water around 1:30 in the afternoon, but it soon disappeared. A little while after that, he noticed something unusual in the water, and he snapped this photo.

Upon seeing the image, the tourism department of Ibusuki City claimed the photograph was indeed showing Issie. They were unable to detect forgery in the picture. Matsubara was rewarded with 100,000 yen for getting proof of the lake monster.