ABSTRACT
Now the odd thing is that there is virtually not a single species of bear in the whole African continent.1 Of course there is no certainty that the Nandi bear is really a bear, but it looks like one; and the
features reported by numerous witnesses are so characteristic that it seems a reasonable supposition. Moreover, despite the total absence of bears in black Africa, the Wa-Swahili and the tribes bordering the River Tana have long used the word duba, presumably derived from the Arabic dubb (bear), to describe a fearful beast that haunts the forests along the river.
