A Huge Amazon Monster Is Only a Myth. Or Is It?

By LARRY ROHTER
Published: July 8, 2007

RIO BRANCO, Brazil — Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest.

This beast of lore and encounters is the "mapinguary" - ma-ping-wahr-EE - which means, according to the article, “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast.”

For the rest of this article, which includes map and a photo, go here.