Encounter Atlas
In the traditions of Sri Lanka's Vedda people, the nittaewo were a tribe of small, hairy, upright beings about 3 to 4 feet tall, with short powerful arms and long claws. They were said to live in caves or nests in trees, hunt small animals, and speak in a twittering language.
The best-known story says the Veddas trapped the last of them in a cave and smoked them out, sometime around the late 1700s. Explorer Hugh Nevill wrote this down in 1887 from a chain of tellers, and colonial official Frederick Lewis heard the same story from older Veddas in 1915.
In 1963 an army captain searched caves at Kudumbigala and found shells and turtle bones. Odd reports have surfaced since, including a wave of village scares in 2019, but those described a very different creature. Primatologists have suggested the legend may reflect gibbons, bears or even memories of another human group.
What witnesses report
- Small, hairy upright figures
- Long claws on short arms
- Twittering, bird-like speech
- Nests in trees or caves
Famous cases
- 1963Army captain searches the Kudumbigala caves
Kudumbigala, Sri Lanka
Seen the Nittaewo?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
