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in the ennedi moutains in north-east chad

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you may find it amusing or just interesting but its also the home of the ennedi tiger I learned today

"The Ennedi tiger is a purportedly living Sabertooth cat inhabiting the Ennedi Plateau, located in the east of Chad, in Sub-Saharan Africa.[1]

There are reports of two different species, one that mainly inhabits the mountains (called Hadjel, Gassingram, or Vossoko), and a Water-inhabiting one (called Mourou N'gou, Mamaimé, or Dilali).

The Mountain type, according to the reports, is larger than a lion and lacks a tail. The teeth protrude from the mouth, and the feet are hairy. The coloration is red or reddish-brown with white stripes. It is strong enough to carry off large antelopes. It is nocturnal and cave dwelling in the Ouadai district of the Ennedi mountain range. Natives described it to western explorers, who identified it as a Machairodus sabertooth.

The Water type is of unknown relation to the first, although it is also larger than a lion (8–12 feet), very fierce, and has protruding teeth. The animal's color pattern is red with white markings (comparable to mountain cats), to leopard-like with stripes, to uniform brown. Its teeth are always described as "walrus-like" and the tail is always long in reports. Some have suggested an otter as a candidate. Its habitat extends into the Central African Republic. There are also tales of water lions in folklore in Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Sudan. A cave drawing that illustrates a walrus-like creature with a long tail exists in South Africa.

According to scientific orthodoxy the African sabre-toothed tigers, such as Megantereon and Afrosmilus died out 500,000 years ago. However in certain African countries such as the Central African Republic and Chad sabre-toothed tigers have been seen by the locals in modern times.

The animal is known by the French speakers of the Zagaoua peoples of the escarpments of the Ennedi mountains as "tigre de montagne." They describe it as being larger than a lion but lacking a tail. It possesses red banded fur with white stripes and it has long hairs on its feet. It also has teeth that protrude from its mouth. It inhabits the mountains and caves of Ennedi and it is so strong it can carry away sizeable antelopes.

In the mountainous Tibesti region of Chad the sabre-tooth is known as "nisi" or "noso." It is said to attack hens and slit the throats of goats without eating them. There are completely black specimins. In 1975 Christian Le Noel was leading an eland hunt from Derby near the river Ouandja 25km from Tirongoulou on the Chad-Sudan border when he heard a howling from a cave like nothing he had heard before. His tracker refused to go any further, saying that it was the sabre-tooth.
Sabretooth cat, Smilodon
Photo Ref: T01446 Title: Sabretooth cat, Smilodon

The people of Temki, Hadjeray in south-west Chad call the sabre-toothed tiger the "hadjel." Wounds have been found on hippos corresponding to those which might be inflicted by the teeth of a sabre-toothed tiger. Christian Le Noel witnessed a hippo which had died of strange wounds which could only have been given by a cat armed with exceptionally well developed upper canine teeth."

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Interesting. Hopefully it is true!



An interesting topic worthy of a new thread. I'll copy lancaster post to a new discussion thread - here:
http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=247765&an=&page=0&vc=1