Key Info

- Devilish sea spirit with the attributes of a crocodile, giraffe, hippo and donkey who causes famine, and has a stare that kills

Brief Bio

The Ninki Nanka has been described as "the most frightening spirit around the lower Gambia" and as "a sea spirit, a dragon-like creature with the attributes of a 'devil'."  The Ninki Nanka kept many lower Gambians away from fertile swamps, rivers, hills, and creeks, and the creature was often believed to inhabit swampy forests.

Descriptions of the creature vary across different tribes, but most contend that the animal is reptilian. It is depicted as having the head of a crocodile with the body of a donkey or a blend of hippopotamus and giraffe, and sometimes simply as a large snake. Some accounts of the legendary creature describe it as a 9m or 30-foot long marsh-dwelling beast having a body like that of a crocodile and long neck like that of a giraffe with a horse's head along with three horns. Common across descriptions is its believed fatal stare, akin to Medusa, which is said to cause death upon eye contact. Folklore advises carrying mirrors to deflect its gaze. The animal is said to be extremely large and very dangerous.

A 1906 commissioner's report describes the creature:

The Mandingoes are firm believers in genii; every village is supposed to have two of these, a bad spirit and a good spirit. In some cases they say the village spirits or genii are male and female, sometimes the male is good and the female bad, and vice versa. A well-known Mandinka myth is the “ninki nanko”; this is supposed to resemble a gigantic crowned serpent which resides in the thickest bush. If a native sees the body of this creature he believes that he will be afflicted with dangerous sickness but that if he sees the eyes or crown it means instantaneous death. No native will go anywhere near where one of these creatures is supposed to be.