Editing Dingonek

{{Monsterbox|title = Dingonek|image = Wide World Dingonek.png|imagecaption = |origin =[[:Category:Kipsigis|Kipsigis]] ([[:Category:Kenyan|Kenyan]]), [[:Category:Maasai|Maasai]] (Kenyan and [[:Category:Tanzanian|Tanzanian]]) |location = Rivers in the vicinity of Lake Victoria in western Africa|disposition = Neutral|othernames = Dingoneck, ol-umaina}}
[[File:Dingonek cave.png|thumb|220x220px|Detail of a cave painting supposedly depicting a dingonek, although it was not found anywhere near where a dingonek has been sighted.]]
The '''dingonek''', also called the '''ol-umaina,''' is a large, [[wp:Reptile|reptilian]] [[wp:Monster|monster]] reported in the vicinity of [[wp:Lake Victoria|Lake Victoria]]. While no descriptions of the animal agree entirely, they are often classified as the same creature due to their similarities, most notably a [[wp:Mammal|mammalian]] head and [[wp:Leopard|leopard]] [[wp:Rosette (zoology)|spots]]. All recorded reports of it are by [[wp:English people|Englishmen]] occupying the Lake Victoria region, but one attributed it (and its name) to the [[wp:Kipsigis people|Kipsigis]] people in [[wp:Kenya|Kenya]], and another to the [[wp:Maasai people|Maasai]] people. The dingonek is often compared to or conflated with the [[lukwata]].

== Appearance ==
The dingonek is 14 to 16 feet long, with a mammalian head (compared to a leopard,<ref name=":0">Bronson, Edgar Beecher. ''[https://archive.org/details/inclosedterritor00broniala In Closed Territory]'', Chicago, A.C. McClurg & Co (1910). Pg 131-133.</ref> [[wp:Otter|otter]],<ref>Jordan, John Alfred. "[https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist193unse_wzu LUQUATA or DINGONECK]", The Daily Colonist, Victoria B.C. (18 September 1932). Pg 2.</ref> or [[wp:Dog|dog]]<ref name=":1">Hobley, CW. "[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/content/part/EANHS/Vol.%20III%20(No.6)_48_1913_Hobley.pdf On Some Unidentified Beasts]", The East Africa Natural History Society (1913). Pg 50-52.</ref>) and spotted like a leopard. It has a broad back, a short neck, and a broad, powerful tail. It has short legs,<ref name=":1" /> and its feet are about the same size as a [[wp:Hippopotamus|hippopotamus]], but clawed like a reptile's. It has also been given, by different accounts, the traits of [[wp:Walrus|walrus]]-like [[wp:Tusk|tusks]]; scales like an [[wp:Armadillo|armadillo]]; leopard ears; a [[wp:Fin|finned]] tail;<ref name=":0" /> and "ears [like] a [[wp:Bitis|puff adder]]" (possibly referring to the brow scales of ''[[wp:Bitis caudalis|Bitis caudalis]]'', as puff adders have no external ears).<ref name=":1" />

The animal has been variously described as a cross between a [[wp:Whale|whale]], a leopard, and a [[wp:Sea serpent|sea serpent]], or a cross between a [[wp:Snake|snake]], a [[wp:Crocodile|crocodile]], and a leopard.<ref name=":0" />

Interestingly, modern descriptions of the animal sometimes include a massive, [[wp:Scorpion|scorpion]]-like stinger on its tail, a single horn jutting out of its forehead, and scales like a [[wp:Pangolin|pangolin's]]. It is also often red or grey instead of spotted. The exact origin of these additions is unclear.<ref>Morphy, Rob. "[http://www.cryptopia.us/site/2009/12/dingonek-zaire-west-africa/ DINGONEK: (ZAIRE)]", Cryptopia (2009).</ref>

A [[wp:Cave painting|cave painting]] often cited as a depiction of a dingonek resembles a black and red walrus with spots. It has a long body, stubby legs, and a paddle-like tail. However, it should be noted that the cave painting is from [[wp:South Africa|South Africa]], extremely far away from where the animal has been sighted.<ref>"[http://lloydbleekcollection.cs.uct.ac.za/stow/STOW_117.html Stow / Image / STOW_117]", The Digital Bleek & Lloyd.</ref>

== Behaviour ==
The dingonek is [[wp:Semiaquatic|semiaquatic]], and has always been reported in or near [[wp:River|rivers]]. When in the water only its head is visible,<ref name=":1" /> and it swishes its tail back and forth like a crocodile in order to swim. It will sometimes rest on large logs and riverbanks. It's able to spring its full body out of the water as if standing on its tail, and did on one occasion after being shot.<ref name=":0" />[[File:BC Keates Dingonek.png|thumb|220x220px|A depiction of a dingonek encounter]]

In one report, the dingonek (or perhaps a similar animal) attempted to snatch a man off the bow of a [[wp:Tugboat|steam tug]], and almost capsized the boat before the crew fought it off. The creature has been shot on multiple occasions, but the bullets were never enough to kill or even injure it,<ref name=":1" /> even when shot by an experienced hunter behind its ear.<ref name=":0" />
== Similar creatures ==
* [[Lukwata]]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         [[File:Creature46677890-.jpg|thumb|216x216px|''A more primordial version of a Dingonek.'']]

== References ==
<references />[[Category:Cat]]
[[Category:Whale]]
[[Category:Massive]]
[[Category:Predatory]]
[[Category:Chimera]]
[[Category:African]]
[[Category:Creature]]
[[Category:Crocodile or Alligator]]
[[Category:Semiaquatic]]
[[Category:Seal]]
[[Category:Kipsigis]]
[[Category:Hippopotamus]]
[[Category:Kenyan]]
[[Category:Tanzanian]]
[[Category:Uruguayan]]
[[Category:Maasai]]