Find me here:
  The Paranormal Guide
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Atlas
  • Glossary

De Loys' Ape

4/8/2014

Comments

 
Picture
In 1920, while camped near a River in Columbia, Swiss geologist François de Loys and his expedition team shot and killed a strange, monkey-like creature.

Many zoologists and cryptozoologists believe this creature to be a spider monkey, but others are not so sure.


A Strange Ape?

PictureOriginal image of the De Loys' Ape.
The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine, and it was published for the first time on the 14th May, 1842. Issues would continue for the next 161 years, finally ceasing publication in 2003. Originally intending it to be mainly a report on crime, the newsagent who created the magazine was convinced that it should cover a wide array of topics to reach a broader audience.

In the edition that hit newstands on the 15th June, 1929 it reported a story concerning a Swiss geologist by the name of François de Loys, who recounted a story about an expedition he and others had undertaken in South America over a decade earlier. During this expedition the group had been attacked by what De Loys claimed to be a large unknown species of primate.


The story was accompanied by a photograph, the only evidence besides his account of the incident. It showed what looked like a tall ape seated on a crate, with a large stick being used to prop up the creature by placing it under the creatures chin. De Loys had held onto this photograph and kept his story hidden for nine years until his friend, anthropologist George Montandon, had found the picture while searching through De Loys' files earlier that year and had convinced De Loys to tell his story.

While on expedition for three years, between 1917 and 1920, De Loys and nineteen other men searched the South American jungles for pertroleum. Near the end of the search, the group one night set camp near Lake Maracaibo, near the border of Colombia and Venezuela. Only four men at that point had survived the expedition, as disease and attacks by native tribes had killed the other sixteen by the last year.

PictureClose up of the face.
After settling down for the night, the crew were attacked by what appeared at first to be two bears, however, De Loys noted that they were ape-like, and were a male and female. They seemed to be at least five feet tall and screeched and howled at the men while holding onto nearby branches. He recalled that they appeared to be angry and had started to defecate into their hands and start throwing the fecal matter at the group, who retaliated by shooting at them. The female was, according to De Loys, killed by gunfire while the male retreated into the jungle, never to be seen again.

The men examined the body, and were astonished to find they could not identify the creature. It looked like a spider monkey, however it was significantly taller than any known spider monkey species. It had 36 teeth, four more than the normal number sported by then-known monkey species. And it had no tail, according to De Loys, which stumped the men further. It was skinned,and its hide, jaw and skull were taken, however these were never found, as it has been claimed they were abandoned by the group before returning or were lost in transit.

The only evidence of the spectacular story was the single picture taken, however said picture did not clearly show the size of the creature. There have been claims more were taken but they too also disappeared.

Soon after the story was went public, George Montandon, who at the time was a renowned zoologist in France, proclaimed it to be an unknown species of ape, and gave it the scientific name Ameranthropoides loysi (or Loysi's Ape), after his friend and the man who had encountered and photographed it.


PictureA Spider Monkey, thought to be what the De Loys Ape could be.
Soon after this critics appeared, deeming De Loys' account as unreliable, untrustworthy and anthropologist Sir Arthur Keith from across the Channel in London led the charge, asserting that the creature was nothing more than a spider monkey, perhaps manipulated to appear as something more suspicious. He further asserted that the tail had been deliberately cut off or hidden, and that perhaps both De Loys and Montandon were perpetuating a hoax. Evidence to suggest this is the fact that at the right of the photo many have noticed over the years what appears to be the stump of a banana tree,which are not indigenous to the area De Loys claims to have taken the picture, suggesting to many zoologists and cryptozoologists over the last few decades that it was a hoax perpetuated by Montandon, who took a picture of a spider monkey elsewhere and perhaps convinced De Loys to be in on the act.

There are a few die-hard cryptozoologists that still maintain that the story and picture were factual, and represented something unknown that many in the scientific community were, and perhaps still are, unwilling or unable to accept as yet.

However, if De Loys was behind the hoax, why would a geologist, as his companions were being murdered or falling ill around him, enact such a fraud?

He apparently had little or no interest in zoology, and the supposed fact that he had kept the photograph hidden from the public for nearly a decade should say he was not seeking fame or fortune. So could the picture (and story) be real?

By Matty Sweeney 2014

Please leave your thoughts, comments and further information regarding this article below!

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    The Paranormal Guide Articles

    Here you will find all of the articles written for The Paranormal Guide on all things paranormal, strange, dark, macabre, weird, strange and bizarre!

    All photos with the blog posts remain the property of their respectful owners. If one of your photos is featured here without attribution please leave a comment on the blog and full credit will be given.

    Categories

    All
    Bizarre Experiments
    Conspiracy
    Cryptozoology
    Cursed And Haunted Objects
    Curses Demons And Exorcisms
    Earth Mysteries
    Fakes Frauds And Hoaxes
    Ghosts And Hauntings
    Ghosts Ghouls And Demons
    Interesting And Inspiring People
    Investigations
    Miracles
    My Paranormal
    Paranormal Photos
    Paranormal Vocabulary
    Phobias And Philias
    Post Mortem Practices
    Psychics Predictions And Seers
    Questions And Discussions
    Reviews
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Spirituality And Miracles
    Strange And Macabre Places
    Strange And Tragic Deaths
    This Week In Dark History
    Tragedy
    True Crime And Punishment
    Ufos And Aliens
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Urban Legend Superstition And Folklore
    Weird Odd And Bizarre


    Ashley Hall -
    The Paranormal Guide

    Ashley Hall explores The Paranormal, True Crime, Strange Deaths, Dark History, The Weird, The Strange and The Bizarre! Fact or Fiction? You decide!

    Picture

    Contributors

    Picture
    Matty Sweeney
    Picture
    Peet Banks
    Picture
    Nic Hume

    Picture
    Check out The Paranormal Guide Podcast and join three paranormal investigators and researchers for honest and raw discussions on all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre HERE!

    Archives

    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Please note that dates are from when the article was originally made.
    The Paranormal Guide does have posts all the way up to the current date.


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.