86 UNIDENTIFIED BEASTS IN EAST AFRICA 
Colour, reddish to yellow ; length, about 6 feet ; height, about 
8 feet 6 inches at the withers ; hair long, and all accounts agree 
on the point of a thick mane ; tail short and very broad ; claws 
very long ; head, fairly long nose, teeth long but not so long as a 
lion ; fore-legs said to be very thick. 
The Pokomo state that several have been killed, and one 
man says that he killed one himself a good many years ago. 
It is said to be very fierce, and to visit villages and carry off 
sheep. On these occasions the natives either cross the river 
until it leaves the neighbourhood or frighten it away by beating 
drums. The Waboni hunters know the beast well, but say that 
they prefer to leave it alone. 
The Assistant District Commissioner on the Tana also sends 
a further account of the animal, based on recent inquiries, 
and it was described to him by Pokomo, who said they had seen 
it, and their account was as follows : — Light in colour, long hair 
on neck and back, usually goes on fore-legs but can go on its 
hind-legs, not known to climb trees, rather smaller than a lion, 
tail about 18 inches long and some 4 inches broad, is nocturnal 
in its habits, fore-legs very thick ; said to leave a track with one 
deep claw mark behind the marks of its four toes (this is rather 
obscure). They are agreed about its ferocity, and say it attacks 
a man on sight. One is said to have killed a rhino near Makere, 
but this is rather difficult to credit. One tried to raid a goat 
kraal last January, but was driven away by the noise made by 
the villagers when the alarm was given. 
The Wa Pokomo are an agricultural people on the river and 
do not usually hunt, but Waboni hunters might possibly be 
induced to locate one if anyone had leisure and means to devote 
to the matter. 
