Postcard from Bishkek

On the day that the Daily Mail ran a story about a possible new photo of the Loch Ness Monster … this one from space … I came across another interesting story about another “fabled” creature, Chon Maimyl – the big monkey.

Although stories of the Loch Ness Monster date back to the sixth century, in modern times it had more or less been debunked with the revelation of the most famous photographs having been faked … and the 1930s plaster cast of a footprint was actually that of a Begemot … a Hippopotamus … and this new photo is bound to breathe new life into the “legend”.

The Daily Telegraphy published a selection of photographs of previous Nessie sightings.

The satellite image was “discovered” using the apple satellite map app and has been closely “studied” … and “experts” agree on one thing … it’s still a mystery, apart from the fact that it doesn’t appear in all versions … although they have ruled out several possible explanations.

Nessie, as the “monster” is colloquially known, is just one of a whole series of fabled creatures whose existence science has not yet been able to confirm.  There are many similar “water beasts” that are reputed to live in lakes – or even in the oceans.  Here in Kyrgyzstan, for example, there one that is reputed to live in the Toktogul Reservoir.

Back in January 2004, the Vecherniye Bishkek newspaper carried an interesting story about some Bishkek residents who had gone fishing in the Toktogul Reservoir.

The men knew the area very well and the waters where they were only about a meter deep. They felt their fishing line snag on something. When they investigated they saw something grey, about 20 centimeters across. It looked like a snake – and when the line was eventually freed it was stripped of all the bait and catch that had been there.

It was at this point that they remembered having been told by local people not to fish there as there was “a huge snake can cut off something between your legs!”

When asked what he thought it could possibly be, one of the fishermen is reputed to have said: “I have never seen anything like it in my life. But I know one thing: I will not go fishing to Toktogul Reservoir anymore!”

 

There are also many land based fabled creatures.

Some, such as the Unicorn, Dragons and the Griffin, have been discounted as legendary – even though scholars in antiquity seem to have considered real enough.  The accounts of Marco Polo of a large wild sheep, having horns “three, four and even six palms in length” were long considered to be another such creature … a flight of fancy, and it remained an enigma in Europe for 600 years … but the common name of the Argali bears his name: the “Marco Polo sheep”.

Some of the creatures are said to resemble a human. In North America, for example, there is the Sasquatch, (colloquially known as Big Foot), and in the Himalayas, (Tibet and Nepal), the Yeti, (more commonly known as The Abominable Snowman).  There is much confusion and speculation about the nature of these creatures – fed by the occasional sightings, photographs, or other supposed evidence.

The Chon Maimyl is another such creature … but one that has, so far, eluded both science and, (on the whole), public recognition.

To be honest – I have heard of the Big Monkey before … but, as I haven’t been able to track down any reliable source of information, I have always treated it as hearsay; part of folklore; oral tradition or simply as a modern urban myth.

The posting on Facebook by the Deputy Minister for tourism told of meeting with representatives from the Toktogul district in Central Kyrgyzstan.  Although it is a very beautiful part of Kyrgyzstan, (with mountains, the Naryn River and the Toktogul Reservoir …), and quite a few visitors to Kyrgyzstan do pass through it on the main Bishkek-Osh highway as the travel between the country’s two main cities … very few actually stop and linger and experience all that there is on offer.  So, little wonder that the region’s representatives wanted to talk about possibilities of developing the tourism potential of the district.

It seems that as their presentation of the attractions and potential of the district was drawing to a close they, almost as a passing shot, made a reference to the wildlife and mentioned in particular the Argali and the Chon Maimyl.

They claim that almost every hunter in the region has it at some time or another … in the high mountain ridges between Toktogul and Toguz Torousky … even if firm physical evidence is, so far, lacking.  They describe it as being up to three meters tallm covered in a thick, dense black fur, to be very shy and cautious, surviving on vegetation.

 

 

 

 

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