Monkeyman mystery baffles the rainforest

Police in the brazilian city of Manaus are still on the trail of a mysterious creature which has allegedly attacked the city's residents.

The creature, which is described as part man, part monkey, has apparently struck in 65 locations and has led to the deaths of at least two people.
In the absence of solid fact, and fuelled by intense media attention and lurid descriptions, the "man-monkey" has spread panic in parts of the city.

Marcius Mallous, the deputy commissioner of police, said on Thursday: "Eighteen people have been injured since last night. We cannot yet say who, or what, is causing these attacks, but everything is possible in the Amazon region".

Nocturnal beast

The attacks have taken place at night, and have targeted people sleeping on the roofs of their houses to escape the tropical heat and the frequent attack of ground snakes.

Patrols have been stepped up in areas where the creature has been sighted, with police manning rooftops. But their job has been made harder with the wildly varying descriptions of the creature. It is said to be anything between a tiny man to a tall beast - some say with metal claws and a long tail.

"It looks like a monkey and has green lights as eyes and springs on its feet. It has a huge metallic silver hand and a long tail that glows in the dark" said an eyewitness.

These attacks are frightening the citizens and disturbing the region´s tourism industry. Kofi Quaiq, the secretary of the amazonian department of tourism, confirm that many foreign visitors are leaving the city: "I can understand their afraid, but we can´t afford to lose more visitors to other brazilian tourist cities, like Rio de Janeiro."