Mamlambo

Mamlambo is a cryptid that appears in South African and Zulu folklore, known to natives as the “Brain-Sucker”. This quasi-reptilian monstrosity terrorized the villages around the Mzintlava River in South Africa, and was notorious for dragging its victims into its murky depths, where it would devour their faces in order to consume their brains.

Description
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Mamlambo inhabit the Mzintlava River, also known as the Umzimhlava River. These animal has been described by eyewitnesses as being an astounding 6-7 feet in length. Other descriptions include a long tail, four stubby legs, a crocodilian torso, a serpentine neck and a horse-like head.

It has even been suggested that this animal may be bioluminescent. An elder named Matshunga claimed “It is a big snake, and I have seen what it does… (it has) the head and neck of a snake, and it shines at night with a green light.”

Witnesses have also claimed that this animal has two gleaming, green eyes, which according to native legend possess the power to mesmerize anyone unfortunate enough to make eye contact with the beast.

Like its European cousin Dobhar-chu, Mamlambo is notorious for dragging its victims into its watery domain, where thumb|Another possible appearance">thumb|Another possible appearanceit proceeds to drown them. Once its prey has perished, the Mamlambo then cracks open the skull of its quarry and proceeds to siphon the brains and, ultimately, all of blood from the corpse.

Sighting
Mamlambo sightings have accord for a long time, but local police state that the monster’s purported victims were actually only drowning casualties, resulting from the swelling of the Mzintlava River during the heavy rains of the Lesotho wet season.

Captain G. Mzuko of the Mount Ayliff Police credited crabs for the disfiguring injuries discovered on most victims’ corpses:
“I have seen some of the bodies of the so-called monster’s victims. They had all been in the water for some time and, as is often the case, river crabs had eaten away the soft parts of the faces and throats. In one case, the crabs were still clinging to the body when it was brought in. As far as we are concerned, there were cases of drowning, plain and simple.”

Despite police’s dismissal of native accounts, the villagers who resided near the ominous river claimed that they were not merely superstitious tribesmen, but educated people that had been terrorized by this mysterious entity.

The most recent sighting of what was described as a “giant reptile” was reported near Lubaleko, a village nestled on the Mzintlava River in the vicinity of Mount Ayliff — which is located about 110 miles southeast of the coastal metropolis of Durban — in April of 1997. Those who still dwell in the Mount Ayliff area pray that it will never rear its cranium puncturing head again.
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