The diminutive Nittaewo of Sri Lanka may look like Bigfoot’s little cousin but this creature had its own rich folklore long before the sasquatch was caught shambling into a shaky camera frame.
Classification: Mythical Beasts & Cryptids
Temporal Range: From 400 AD to the present
Geographic Range: Sri Lanka
Diet: Small mammals and reptiles
The diminutive Nittaewo of Sri Lanka may look like Bigfoot’s little cousin but this creature had its own rich folklore long before the sasquatch was caught shambling into a shaky camera frame. With Pliny the Elder commenting on the creatures as far back as 400 AD, the Nittaewo have been around long enough to have mastered the art of staying hidden.
Living primarily in mountains, caves or any rocky crevice they can fit in, the Nittaewo are fearsome, in spite of their size. Covered entirely in reddish-brown hair, they have long talon-like claws and have been known to terrorize the local Vedda population of Sri Lanka. In Vedda culture, Nittaewo have been known to cause all kinds of trouble, from stealing meat left out to dry by hunters to even attacking those that come across them.
While some have confused these creatures with a kind of ape, they are known for walking on their hind legs at all times and seem to be their own species entirely. While some speculate that the last of the Nittaewo were trapped in a cave and killed in a fire, recent sightings have put this theory into doubt and the recent opening of the rifts have left plenty of opportunities for the remaining creatures to seek out stronger allies.
