Encounter Atlas

Creature index / Odd creatures

Mongolian Death Worm

Also called Olgoi-khorkhoi, Intestine worm

A bright red worm of the Gobi, said to kill with venom or electricity.

Mongolian herders describe the olgoi-khorkhoi as a fat, red worm 2 to 5 feet long that lives under the sand and comes out after rain. Legend says it can spit acid or kill at a distance with an electric shock.

American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews heard the stories in the 1920s, and several modern expeditions have searched without success.

What witnesses report

  • Red, sausage-like body
  • Appears after summer rain

Famous cases

  1. 1926Roy Chapman Andrews reports
    Gobi Desert, Mongolia

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