Encounter Atlas
The mngwa, Swahili for 'the strange one', is a big cat reported in the coastal forests of Tanzania. It is described as larger than a leopard, as big as a donkey, with grey brindled fur, and it is blamed for night attacks in fishing villages.
British administrator William Hichens wrote about local accounts of the mngwa in 1937, and hunter Patrick Bowen later said he tracked one that had carried off a boy, following prints shaped like a leopard's but as big as a lion's. The same name, nunda, belongs to a giant cat in Swahili folktales. Zoologists suggest unusually large or oddly coloured leopards or lions.
What witnesses report
- A grey, brindled cat bigger than a leopard
- Leopard-shaped prints as big as a lion's
- Night attacks on villages
Famous cases
- 1937Hichens' Discovery article
Tanganyika (Tanzania)
Seen the Mngwa?
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