The Buru
Apatani elders described a long, scaly creature that once lived in the swamps of their valley.
What was reported
In 1947, Charles Stonor, an official working in what is now Arunachal Pradesh, collected stories from the Apatani people about the buru: a long animal with scaly skin, a heavy tail, short legs and a long head, that lived in the swamps of their valley and bellowed.
The elders said the buru disappeared when their ancestors drained the swamps to grow rice. In 1948, the British newspaper the Daily Mail sent journalist Ralph Izzard with Stonor to look for it in neighbouring valleys. They found nothing, and Izzard wrote a book about the search.
Explanations offered
Most researchers think the stories preserve a memory of a known animal, such as a crocodile, a large monitor lizard or a big swamp fish, that no longer lives in the valley. No physical remains have been found.
- When
- Accounts collected in 1947–48
- Where
- Apatani Valley (Ziro), Arunachal Pradesh, India
- Witnesses
- Apatani elders; a 1948 newspaper expedition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.