Strange and obscure folklore and sayings relating animals

To the Baka, an indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Congo ( commonly known as pygmies), an elephant seen or heard in the forest is not always as it first appears. In fact it may not even be an elephant at all.

This is because there is a strong cultural belief in the existence of shapeshifters known as the "Mokila" who through the power of black magic / witchcraft can turn themselves into forest elephants.

A Mokila is usually perceived to be a malevolent and vengeful Baka individual. This person will sneak off into the forest alone to undergo a terrifying metamorphosis into a murderous elephant. The shapeshifter will then seek out hunters to kill.

The difficulty therefore is in learning to distinguish between a real elephant and a Mokila who has taken on the form of an elephant. This is a considerable challenge during the sudden encounters between hunters and animals that occur in the forest.

To the Baka a real elephant is often to be feared but a Mokila is to be greatly and always feared and wherever possible avoided.

When a mokila who has taken the form of an elephant through black magic is killed it is believed that their human corpse will materialize alongside the colossal dead body of the animal.

Source: "Half-man half elephant - Shapeshifting among the Baka of the Congo", Alex Kohler, 2000.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Gibbons and macaques have long been animals with complex meanings in Chinese traditional culture.
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Gibbons in ancient China were more interesting than that. Gibbons used to live north into central China, apparently to the snow-covered regions, and were more related to hoolocks than crested gibbons. it is possible there was a separate gibbon species extinct in historical times.

Ancient China used to have its own megafauna, including giant tapir, a separate species of buffalo, rhinos which species is uncertain now, Pere Davids deer, elephants and more. It is often little known about these animals, and when they became extinct.
 
Jurek7 said:
Gibbons in ancient China were more interesting than that. Gibbons used to live north into central China, apparently to the snow-covered regions, and were more related to hoolocks than crested gibbons. it is possible there was a separate gibbon species extinct in historical times.

Ancient China used to have its own megafauna, including giant tapir, a separate species of buffalo, rhinos which species is uncertain now, Pere Davids deer, elephants and more. It is often little known about these animals, and when they became extinct.
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Yes, of course the evolutionary history of species is far more interesting than any human cultural interpretation or belief about an animal.

But this thread is not about evolutionary biology or biogeography and is specifically about anthropology and ethnozoology.

So here I post and write about what I've discovered through my reading and encourage people to discuss the cultural beliefs and folklore that surrounds species around the world.
 
The spectacled bear is an animal that may carry profoundly negative associations in many parts of the Andes.

In many mestizo (mixed Spanish and indigenous heritage) rural villages of Colombia and Peru today there is a folkloric belief that inspires great fear towards the spectacled bear. The bear is seen and spoken of as a voracious sexual predator and rapist of women.

Stories often repeated tell of women ambushed, raped and impregnated by bears that give birth to human-bear hybrids. The unfortunate women and their children are then ostracized by their loved ones and the wider community and forced to live in exile in the forests or hills.

As such when spectacled bears are spotted around settlements they may often be attacked and killed on sight by villagers. This is often as a result of erroneous fears based on folklore but may also be caused by an anger against crop raiding behaviour or killings of livestock by bears (which is often done by pumas).

The negative belief about bears has been suggested by anthropologists to have originated in similar folkloric beliefs from Spain about the brown bear (the tales of "Juan de Oso") that were ultimately brought to Colombia and Peru by Spanish settlers and survived through oral tradition.

In several traditional festivities in such communities young men wear woolen animal faced masks with the classic "spectacles" of the spectacled bear and begin to beat drums, blow whistles, crack whips, recount lewd jokes, pretend to chase girls and make obscene gestures to the crowds.

Source: "Mysterious Ucumari: The Andean Bear in Nature and Culture", Daniel W. Gade, 2016.
 
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The spectacled bear is an animal that is also often imbued with positive associations by indigenous cultures in many parts of the Andes. It is known by many names throughout its range such as "Ukumari", "Juco" and "Jucamari".

In the department of Cuzco, Peru, there is a ritual festival held annually called "Qoyllorriti" which translates from Quechua as "Lord of the snowy star" full of the symbolism of the spectacled bear. Two groups of men known as the "ukukus" dance while dressed in costumes that resemble bears. After the dance and nightfall hundreds of the people who have gathered are led by the men still dressed to climb a 5000m-high valley to reach the Ausangate glacier.

Blocks of ice are broken off which are then carried back down the mountain to be offered to the image of Christ in the church below. It is believed that this melting glacial water has magic healing properties and ensures the fertility of crops throughout the year.

Anthropologists still struggle to understand the exact origin of Qoyllorriti and the meaning is even harder to decipher. However, one possible explanation that has been put forward is that the "ukukus" bear dancers protect the pilgrims gathered from the dead rising from hell and roaming the world of the living. The ice water is believed to be an offering by which the living save the restless souls of the dead who have been condemned to hell.

The bear as an animal of higher elevations in its mountain habitat is associated as being an intermediator between the liminal boundaries of the world of the living and that of the dead.


Source: "Mysterious Ucumari: The Andean Bear in Nature and Culture", Daniel W. Gade, 2016.
 
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In China the endangered Chinese alligator is known as tu long in Chinese which translates as the "muddy dragon".

Some anthropologists believe that the famous dragons that are so abundant and significant in the myths and legends of the Chinese people may have been inspired in ancient times or Prehistory by none other than the earth bound "muddy dragon" or Chinese alligator.

If the Chinese alligator is indeed the inspiration and origin for the iconic Chinese dragon of myth then this is all the more reason to try to conserve this incredible species and prevent its extinction in the wild.

Source: "The Chinese Alligator: Ecology, Behavior, Conservation, and Culture", John Thorbjarnasson et al, 2010.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
The negative belief about bears has been suggested by anthropologists to have originated in similar folkloric beliefs from Spain about the brown bear (the tales of "Juan de Oso") that were ultimately brought to Colombia and Peru by Spanish settlers and survived through oral tradition.

In several traditional festivities in such communities young men wear woolen animal faced masks with the classic "spectacles" of the spectacled bear and begin to beat drums, blow whistles, crack whips, recount lewd jokes, pretend to chase girls and make obscene gestures to the crowds.
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This folkloric belief can be found in different versions all over Europe, not just in Spain. In the Czech republic, we have festivity called "Vodění medvěda" (parading of a bear on chain) during the carnival period. A man wearing a bear full-body mask will be paraded at the front of a group of masked people, he is on a chain and is a symbol of unhinged primaveal male sexuality. The group will go through village from house to house, at each place the leading woman living in that house is expected to go out, give alcohol and/or food to the group and dance with the bear. He will dance in close hug, sometimes he will topple the woman and roll with her on the floor, mimicking copulating movements. The bear is expected to behave mischivously and lewdly, he is forgiven to topple also a random man and roll with him, do tricks or little theft. Dance with this bear is believed to bring fertility to the household, not only to the woman, but also to domestic animals, trees and fields belonging to it.
 
Jana said:
This folkloric belief can be found in different versions all over Europe, not just in Spain. In the Czech republic, we have festivity called "Vodění medvěda" (parading of a bear on chain) during the carnival period. A man wearing a bear full-body mask will be paraded at the front of a group of masked people, he is on a chain and is a symbol of unhinged primaveal male sexuality. The group will go through village from house to house, at each place the leading woman living in that house is expected to go out, give alcohol and/or food to the group and dance with the bear. He will dance in close hug, sometimes he will topple the woman and roll with her on the floor, mimicking copulating movements. The bear is expected to behave mischivously and lewdly, he is forgiven to topple also a random man and roll with him, do tricks or little theft. Dance with this bear is believed to bring fertility to the household, not only to the woman, but also to domestic animals, trees and fields belonging to it.
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Sorry about this late reply @Jana ! Thank you for your reply !

From what you say this is a really very interesting case of an old European folkloric belief surrounding the bear as an archetypal image (which is probably Pre-Christian in origin) being transferred to South America and becoming one there.

You know, I really love that these old pagan festivals that place nature and animals and reverence for it / them so prominently have survived the christianization period of Europe and survive till this day at least symbolically. :)

I tried to find some old footage of Vodění medvěda but I couldn't find any decent footage of the festival going back decades.

However, in the process I did find this beautifully filmed piece on a bear dance festival in Romania, which may or may not have a similar meaning (will have to read up about it and find out).

 
The little endangered crocodile of the Philippines familiar to many zoo goers is an animal imbued with diverse meanings in its native land.

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The Catholic friars and missionaries that arrived in the country following the Spanish colonization of the Philippines recorded that the Philippinos worshipped the crocodile and associated this animal with a cult of ancestors. This is still the case in more remote areas of the uplands of the country where the animal continues to be strongly associated with ancestors, mysticism and fertility.

On the island of Palawan the Tagbanwa ethnic group believe that their ancestors made a bloodpact with crocodiles to avoid attacks, on the island of Mindinao the Tboli tribe weave cloth with intricate and delicate crocodile motifs. The Magindinaon tribes actually believe that they are descended of the crocodile while the Kalinga ethnic group make rice cakes in the form of crocodiles to be consumed during healing rituals.

It is in these areas of the country where indigenous cultures persist that the Philippine crocodile finds its last stronghold in a changing world:

"This transcends academic curiosity: the Kalinga ancestral lands in the northern Sierra Madre form the last stronghold for the Philippine crocodile in the wild. Here, the species survived as an unintended result of traditional values, beliefs and practices."

However, across much of the Philippines today the crocodiles is sadly no longer an animal that is afforded a reverence. In addition to being seen as a threa to human life this reptile has mostly negative connotations and associations with violence and despised figures such as dictators, corrupt politicians, tyrannical landlords and loan sharks :

"In mainstream Filipino culture, crocodiles are seen as vermin and considered a severe threat to children and livestock. Crocodiles are stereotyped as ferocious monsters or bloodthirsty man-eaters and are associated with greed and deceit: corrupt government officials, selfish athletes, landlords and moneylenders are often called buwaya, Filipino for crocodile. In the media, politicians are often portrayed as crocodiles."

Unsuprisingly in such areas where the traditional and historic view of the crocodile has vanished so has the animal itself to local extinction.



Photo credit to @Eagle.

Source: "A Cultural History of Crocodiles in the Philippines: Towards a New Peace Pact?", Jan Van der Ploeg and Merlijn Van Weerd, 2011 (Journal: Environment and History).

 
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Just like the stories of Central African Bantu folklore the chevrotain plays an important role in the indigenous folklore of Indonesia and the Philippines.
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The mouse deer often plays the role of a trickster figure known as "Kantjil" in Indonesia and "Pilandok" in the Philippines in the stories and mythology of these countries.

In such comical tales the little mouse deer through his daring and cunning outwits animals that are much larger and fiercer than himself such as the tiger, python, water buffalo, bear, orangutang, crocodile, rhinoceros and the elephant.

But his trickery is not limited to the animal world and he often deceived human beings in such tales bringing about an anarchic chaos and disorder to society.

Powerful figures such as princes and aristocrats were tricked into giving him their gold, food, power / prestige or beautiful wives and thus the mouse deer robbed, dethroned or cuckolded powerful men.

Anthropologists believe that the mouse deer was adopted as a trickster figure by the Malayo-Indonesian cultures because of its strange and deceptive appearance:

"The Trickster must function as an intermediary between opposites, and therefore occupies a position between polar terms (male/female, earth/sky, gods/men, water/solids) then the Mouse-deer is well suited to this task. We have already noted that it is neither a deer or a pig, though it shares some genetic and physiological features with each of them; it is certainly not a mouse, although its size and coloring might cause it to be classified in the rodent family; it can live in both swampy and mountainous areas. In short, it is a strange creature in South-east Asia, and a phenomenon which challenges any neat categorization."

Photo credit to @Giant Eland.

Sources: "The Mouse-deer ("Kantjil") in Malayo-Indonesian Folklore: Alternative Analyses and the Significance of a Trickster Figure in South-East Asia", Philip Frick Mckean,1971 (Journal: Asian Folklore Studies).
 
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Although the tapir is not native to Japan it plays an important role in Japanese folklore even to this day.

The Malayan tapir is called the "Baku" in Japan which is also the name for a supernatural being with a strong resemblance to the tapir that is said to devour nightmares with its long snout.
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Sculptures of the creature were found in temples to ward off evil spirits and a trend began in the 12th century (that continued to the present) of talismans with a carving of the Baku that were often hung beside the beds of children to prevent nightmares:

"People placed the amulet under their pillow during sleep, believing that Baku would eat nightmares and protect them from suffering. Thus, the amulet was placed under the pillow at the end of every year to wish Baku to eat all nightmares during the past year. They (the talismans) were then floated in the river for purification."

According to Japanese folklore if a person wakes from a particularly terrifying nightmare they should call the name of the Baku and repeat three times "Baku-san, come eat my dream" to prevent future nightmares.

However, people were advised to be prudent with calling out the Baku as it was believed there could be terrifying consequences for calling it too often. If one was to anger this entity by invoking it too many times it could also greedily devour a persons dreams and hopes and leave the individual with an empty and depression ridden life devoid of purpose.

But if the tapir is not native to Japan then where did the myth of the Baku come from ?

Anthropologists believe that the myth of the tapir-inspired Baku arrived in Japan via cultural exchange with China where this species was once native to the South of the country (but now sadly extinct).

"The Baku, an existing animal (a tapir), from the horse family. It is a chubby animal, about 1.5–2 m long, with a stretched nose. It lives in the Malaysian mountains in Asia. According to “Nihon-Saiji-ki” written by Yosifuru Kaibara (1664–1700),7 the Baku used to be regarded as a charm animal in China, and was later introduced to Japan."

Photo credit to @Jogy.

Sources: -"In Search for Chimeras: Three Hybrids of Japanese Imagination", Raluca Nicolae, 2012.
- "Cultural note on dreaming and dream study in the future: Release from nightmare and development of dream control technique", Tadao Hori, 2016 (Journal: Sleep and Biological Rythms).
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Although the tapir is not native to Japan it plays an important role in Japanese folklore even to this day.

The Malayan tapir is called the "Baku" in Japan which is also the name for a supernatural being with a strong resemblance to the tapir that is said to devour nightmares with its long snout.
full

Sculptures of the creature were found in temples to ward off evil spirits and a trend began in the 12th century (that continued to the present) of talismans with a carving of the Baku that were often hung beside the beds of children to prevent nightmares:

"People placed the amulet under their pillow during sleep, believing that Baku would eat nightmares and protect them from suffering. Thus, the amulet was placed under the pillow at the end of every year to wish Baku to eat all nightmares during the past year. They (the talismans) were then floated in the river for purification."

According to Japanese folklore if a person wakes from a particularly terrifying nightmare they should call the name of the Baku and repeat three times "Baku-san, come eat my dream" to prevent future nightmares.

However, people were advised to be prudent with calling out the Baku as it was believed there could be terrifying consequences for calling it too often. If one was to anger this entity by invoking it too many times it could also greedily devour a persons dreams and hopes and leave the individual with an empty life devoid of purpose.

But if the tapir is not native to Japan then where did the myth of the Baku come from ?

Anthropologists believe that the myth of the tapir-inspired Baku arrived in Japan via cultural exchange with China where this species was once native to the South of the country (but now sadly extinct).

"The Baku, an existing animal (a tapir), from the horse family. It is a chubby animal, about 1.5–2 m long, with a stretched nose. It lives in the Malaysian mountains in Asia. According to “Nihon-Saiji-ki” written by Yosifuru Kaibara (1664–1700),7 the Baku used to be regarded as a charm animal in China, and was later introduced to Japan."

Photo credit to @Jogy.

Sources: -"In Search for Chimeras: Three Hybrids of Japanese Imagination", Raluca Nicolae, 2012.
- "Cultural note on dreaming and dream study in the future: Release from nightmare and development of dream control technique", Tadao Hori, 2016 (Journal: Sleep and Biological Rythms).
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Interesting, that must be what the Pokemon Drowzee is based on.
 
The Sumatran rhino is rarely seen by people and even more so now that it has vanished across much of its prior historic range and the remaining population move inexorably towards the precipice of extinction.

However, this animal is the subject of many indigenous folkloric beliefs in South-East Asia and particularly Borneo.
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The Penyabong tribe of Borneo have a folkstory of a zombie-esque rhinoceros which came back to life after being hunted and flayed and chased its killers who were only saved by a sacred tree:

"Two brothers who, walking through the jungle, encountered a rhinoceros. They killed it and had begun to take off its hide, when suddenly it became alive again and chased the two men. They were saved by a ma tree, the leaves of which scared the spirit (antoh) in the animal away."

Other common and somewhat humorous beliefs held in the region about the rhinoceros are that it can be detected by a hunter by the sound of its snores and that it deposits its dung in rivers to kill fish which float to the surface and are eaten

Although the animal was never as overexploited by indigenous peoples as when the financial lure of the Chinese traditional medicine trade began to makes its impact felt it was still a beast whose body parts were believed to hold magical powers.

The rhino was seen by many Dayak indigenous tribes as being a strong and virile animal and so the possession of body parts of this species was believed to confer a physical strength and sexual prowess to a man.

For this reason, the nails of the rhino were worn as amulets around the hand or fastened onto the handle of a headhunters sword. The hilts of swords were also often carved from rhino horn to give strength in battle to a warrior.

Similarly the Sumatran rhino was also a symbol of fertility and its parts could be used to guarantee the reproductive health of women. A skinned rhino tail hanging up on the wall of a womans room was believed to ensure an easy childbirth while water poured through a piece of rhinos skin being held above an infertile woman's head would bring about her fertility.

Photo credits to @loxodonta.

Sources: "The rhinoceros and man in Borneo", L.C. Rookmaker,1977 (Journal: The Sarawak Museum Journal).
 
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In Burma where the Sumatran rhino once existed but is now extinct a strange folkloric belief was held about the animal by the indigenous Karen people.

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The Karen believed that the rhino ate fire and that it would travel great distances at the smell of smoke to eat the flames.

A Victorian era English explorer named William Theobold recorded in 1882 a conversation he had with an indigenous Karen man while travelling in the jungles of Burma who warned him fearfully about this rhino:

"There is said to be a species of rhinoceros in the jungles, which is distinguished from both the others by its skin being covered with small tubercles, and above all by its eating fire. Wherever it sees fire it runs up and devours it immediately. I once lost my way among the hills and valleys of Palaw and Katay, and on obtaining a Karen, who lived in that region, for a guide, he laid special charge on every member of the party to follow him in silence, for a fire- eating rhinoceros had been recently seen, and it always came to noises, instead of fleeing from them as most animals do."

Photo credit: @easytigger.

Source: "BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AND PRODUCTIONS; NOTES ON THE FAUNA, FLORA AND MINERALS OF TENASSERIM, PEGU AND BURMA", R. Mason, 1882.
 
The Malayan tapir is known as "P'som-sett" in Thailand which translates from Thai to English as "mixture is finished".

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This is because of the belief that when the creator spirit had fashioned the world and had finished creating all the other animals the tapir was created from an odd mixture of leftover parts.

The belief and the name was no doubt inspired by the odd appearance of the tapir and the fact that though it has superficial characteristics of other animals it has no definitive resemblance to anything else that occurs within the forests of South-East Asia.

Photo credit to @Jogy.

Source: "Notes on the Malay Tapir and Other Game Animals in Siam", Colin Campbell Sanborn, 1950 (Journal: Journal of Mammalogy).
 
The Australian water rat also known as the "Rakali" is an important animal for many indigenous Aboriginal peoples on the continent.
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The Yanuywa aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory of Australia typically call this species by the name "Namurr" but it also has another name which is far more important "Riyariyayangkangu".

The name Riyariyayangkangu is called out by women around rivers and water bodies as it is believed to drive the water rat into the waters which in turn scares away the "spirit children" (known as the "Ardirri") that often lurk here. These entities are believed to be mischevious spirits that cause unwanted pregnancy in women.

There is also a water rat song among the women of the Yanuywa which is believed to block the womb and stop the spirits from causing pregnancy, the song translates as :

"I have no children, the reason being that I sang myself. I blocked my womb, I sang the water rat"



Photo credit to @gentle lemur.

Sources: "All Kinds of Things from Country: Yanyuwa Ethnobiological Classification", John Bradley et al, 2006.
 
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The lowland tapir is known by many names across South America, however, it is called the "Anta" in the Portuguese language of Brazil.

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Unfortunately, this name has a largely negative association within Brazil and the word is typically used as an expression to describe to someone who engages in idiotic / moronic behaviour.

Current conservation efforts with this species in the Cerrado and Atlantic forest regions of Brazil have tried to reverse this negative association that people hold towards animal through social media campaigns.

Photo credit @Tim May.

Sources: LTCI - Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative
 
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