De Loys Ape -- Mono Grande

Many have heard of the mono grande ("large monkey") or de Loys ape stories from South America. But there is much more to the history of large ape or monkey sightings there.

These large creatures have been referred to many other names, both locally and around the world.

In 1523, a Spanish explorer, Pedro Cieza de Leon recorded many sightings of large apes in the areas he explored. These were called marimondas.

Sir Walter Raleigh also came across reports of large monkey-like creatures in South America.

In 1769, Dr. Edmund Bancroft listed and described five foot tall apes from the stories the native tribesmen shared from the region of Guyana and Suriname. They called these creatures didi.