The Ahool

There are reports of a bat like creature deep in the jungles on the Island of Java. It has the wingspan of 12 feet and it has a head that in descriptions describe as monkey like and in other cases, human like. It gets its name from the sound that it makes "A-hool" - Some have even suggested that the Ahool may be a surviving pterosaur, a flying reptile thought to have gone extinct during the time of the dinosaurs, around 65 million years ago.

Lets look at some eyewitness testimony and descriptions.

Interesting Sighting Details of the Ahool

The island of Java is one densely populated area. It is because of this over population that the island’s beautiful rainforest has been torn down, to make room for the ever-growing human populace. Unfortunately, as the forest dwindles, so too are the chances of discovering new plant and animals that must have been originally abundant in the jungles of Java. One such creature might be the elusive Ahool. The Ahool is generally considered to be a giant bat-like creature that is said to live in the heavy jungles of Java. It was said that the first ever mention of these creatures was the description of Dr. Ernest Bartels, while he was exploring in the Salak Mountains, which are found in the island of Java. While exploring a waterfall, Bartels suddenly saw a giant bat fly above its head. Two weeks later, Bartels again encountered the creature, this time hearing the noise “a-hool” outside his hut, when he came out to see it, it made the sound again and then flew away. Thanks to this experience, the Ahool got its name. The Ahool is said to be the size of a 1-year old child but with a wingspan of 12 feet. It reportedly has some thin fur covering its body (a short, dark grey coat), and is said to have the body of a bat but the head of monkey. Some even say that the face of the creature is human-like. It has large black eyes, two flattened forearms that are able to support its gigantic wing, and its feet is said to be pointing backwards. The Ahools have been known to squat on the forest floors and are believed to be nocturnal animals. This supports the claim of it having huge black eyes, which should help provide a better vision at night. During the daytime, it is usually inside caves or sometimes, behind waterfalls. But at night, it goes out and skims above the rivers of the island, catching large fishes to feed. Some people say that the Ahool is merely a local species of owl that also has black circles around its eyes, giving the appearance of big, black eyes. Others say it is a pterosaur, while other cryptozoologist says that it is a creature like the Kongamato of Africa (giant bat). No matter what one wants to believe, there is a creature out there but if the destruction of the rainforest continues, the world might never know what it really is.

Source: www.unknown-creatures.com...

Expanded eyewitness account

One account of the Ahool occurred in 1925 when naturalist Dr. Ernest Bartels, son of noted ornithologist M.E.G. Bartels, was exploring a waterfall on the slopes of the Salek Mountains when a giant unknown bat, the Ahool, few directly over his head. Two years later in 1927, around 11:30 pm, Dr. Ernest Bartels encountered the Ahool again, this time he was laying in bed, inside his thatched house close to the Tjidjenkol River in western Java, listening to the sounds of the jungle when he suddenly heard a very different sound coming from almost directly over his hut, this loud and clear cry seemed to utter, A Hool! Grabbing his torch Dr. Bartels ran out of his hut in the direction the sound seemed to be heading. Less than 20 seconds later he heard it again, a final A Hool! which floated back towards him from a considerable distance downstream. As he would recall many years later, he was transfixed on the sound, not because he did not know what produced it but rather because he did, the Ahool. At one time, Bartels had suggested that perhaps the creature was not a bat, but some type of bird, possibly a very large owl, but this theory did not sit well with others and was greeted with passionate denials by his friends, who assured him in no uncertain terms that they were more than capable of distinguishing a bat from a bird. Bartels accounts of the Ahool were passed down to cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson by Bernard Heuvelmans, and after much research Sanderson concluded that the Ahool is a form of unclassified bat. Sanderson took special interest in the Ahool because he too had met with such a creature, but not in Java, his encounter took place in the Assumbo Mountains of Cameroon, in western Africa. Sanderson thought that the Ahool could be an Oriental form of the giant bat like creature he witnessed in Africa; this creature was known by the African natives as the Kongamato. Some researchers have suggested that the Ahool may be a surviving population of pterosaur, a flying reptile thought to have gone extinct around the time of the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago. Indeed the description of the Ahool does match what we currently know about pterosaur species, including large forearms supporting leathery wings. The majority of investigators seem to agree however that the Ahool is more than likely a form of unknown giant bat, looking to the creatures reported facial features as evidence against the flying reptile theory. A third, less popular theory, also based on the reported facial features of the Ahool is that this beast may be the worlds first reported case of a flying primate. Regardless of which theory you may subscribe to it may only be a matter of time before we find out exactly what the Ahool is. With the continued destruction of Java’s rainforests the Ahool’s habitat continues to shrink which may lead to more encounters with the creature by modern man as we encroach further on its home. Unfortunately the destruction of the Ahool’s home may also lead to its extinction before we even get a chance to fully understand its identity.

Source: www.unknownexplorers.com...

Anyone have any ideas or theories on what this creature could be? An unknown type of bat perhaps? Or something prehistoric that is still alive today?

No matter what it is, to sustain a population it would require thousand of individuals.. No way they could go hidden for so long with that size.

Unless of course we are talking about a magical and immortal animal..

Originally posted by Thain Esh Kelch
No matter what it is, to sustain a population it would require thousand of individuals.. No way they could go hidden for so long with that size.

Unless of course we are talking about a magical and immortal animal..

edit on 17/1/12 by Thain Esh Kelch because: (no reason given)

Then Cheetahs must be magical as well. It's estimated that about 10,000 yrs ago a population bottleneck occured and the Cheetah population may have dropped to as little as 500 individuals.

Also, are you aware that every single human being on the planet can trace their maternal ancestry to one individual female?

No, you don't need thousands of individuals in order for a species to survive.

reply to post by Thain Esh Kelch


Well, a lot of things have gone undiscovered for centuries. There are still parts of this world that man has yet to explore or step foot on (im not just talking about the Oceans either)

So to me, I think that it would be easy for such a creature to go undetected.

Thanks for the thread, its very interesting.

I wonder if thefd are any caves/cave systems on the Island.

Perhaps the Ahool/Ahools spend most of their time in the darkness of caves and rarely come out.

Cheers

reply to post by FoxMulder91


My pleasure.

And yes, they are supposedly nocturnal. Im sure they live in caves or maybe even perhaps underground.

Originally posted by Thain Esh Kelch
No matter what it is, to sustain a population it would require thousand of individuals.. No way they could go hidden for so long with that size.

Unless of course we are talking about a magical and immortal animal..

edit on 17/1/12 by Thain Esh Kelch because: (no reason given)

Sounds like a good movie plot for the Syfy channel.

Originally posted by Thain Esh Kelch
No matter what it is, to sustain a population it would require thousand of individuals.. No way they could go hidden for so long with that size.

Unless of course we are talking about a magical and immortal animal..

edit on 17/1/12 by Thain Esh Kelch because: (no reason given)

thank god you came along with your genius and told us whats what..

I wonder how the earth even existed before you were born.

reply to post by Blarneystoner



Are YOU aware that the population of humans has never dropped below tens of thousands, and that you need approximately at least 80 humans to maintain a genetically viable population long-term?

I'm assuming you're referring to what is known in anthropology as "mitochondrial eve", but what you don't seem to understand is that it doesn't literally mean every single human is directly descended from that one woman. Many millions of people are descended from other individuals present at the time (but certain couplings interrupted the passing on of other mtdna) and as I said before, the population of our ancestors never really dropped below the tens of thousands. There wasn't "one woman" at the time, but at least thousands, if not tens of thousands.

Different species need different population levels to maintain enough genetic diversity for a viable long-term population. For humans this number is roughly 80 (approx, not EXACTLY). For something like the "Ahool" it would be a bit different, but it would still need to be a sizable population, and certainly no smaller than 50-60 breeding individuals.