The Island of Java, formed mostly as the result of volcanic activity, is the worlds 13th largest island, and the 5th largest island of Indonesia. Java is one of the most densely populated regions on earth and with a population of roughly 124 million is also the most populated island in the world. It is because of this overpopulation that the rainforests of Java have all but disappeared in recent times, the Gunung Halimun National Park is one of the last remaining stretches of lowland forest on the island. What remains Java’s once great rain forests supports a wide array of wildlife including over 23 mammal species, over 200 bird species, over 500 forms of plant life and according to the native population of the forests is the home to a large unidentified winged creature known as the Ahool.

The Ahool, named after its call, a long ahOOOooool, is said to be a bat like creature, and is described as the size of a one year old child with a gigantic wing span of roughly 12 feet. It is reported to be covered in short, dark grey fur, have large, black eyes, flattened forearms supporting its leathery wings and a monkey like head, with a flattish, man like face. It has been seen squatting on the forest floor, at which times its wings are closed, pressed against the Ahool’s body, its feet appearing to point backwards. It is thought that the Ahool is a nocturnal creature, spending its days concealed in caves located behind or beneath waterfalls; its nights spent skimming across rivers in search of large fish upon which it feeds.

One account of the Ahool occurred in 1925 when naturalist Dr. Ernest Bartels, son of noted ornithologist M.E.G. Bartels, was exploring a waterfall on the slopes of the Salek Mountains when a giant unknown bat, the Ahool, few directly over his head. Two years later in 1927, around 11:30 pm, Dr. Ernest Bartels encountered the Ahool again, this time he was laying in bed, inside his thatched house close to the Tjidjenkol River in western Java, listening to the sounds of the jungle when he suddenly heard a very different sound coming from almost directly over his hut, this loud and clear cry seemed to utter, A Hool!

Grabbing his torch Dr. Bartels ran out of his hut in the direction the sound seemed to be heading. Less than 20 seconds later he heard it again, a final A Hool! which floated back towards him from a considerable distance downstream. As he would recall many years later, he was transfixed on the sound, not because he did not know what produced it but rather because he did, the Ahool.

At one time, Bartels had suggested that perhaps the creature was not a bat, but some type of bird, possibly a very large owl, but this theory did not sit well with others and was greeted with passionate denials by his friends, who assured him in no uncertain terms that they were more than capable of distinguishing a bat from a bird.

Bartels accounts of the Ahool were passed down to cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson by Bernard Heuvelmans, and after much research Sanderson concluded that the Ahool is a form of unclassified bat. Sanderson took special interest in the Ahool because he too had met with such a creature, but not in Java, his encounter took place in the Assumbo Mountains of Cameroon, in western Africa. Sanderson thought that the Ahool could be an Oriental form of the giant bat like creature he witnessed in Africa; this creature was known by the African natives as the Kongamato.

Some researchers have suggested that the Ahool may be a surviving population of pterosaur, a flying reptile thought to have gone extinct around the time of the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago. Indeed the description of the Ahool does match what we currently know about pterosaur species, including large forearms supporting leathery wings. The majority of investigators seem to agree however that the Ahool is more than likely a form of unknown giant bat, looking to the creatures reported facial features as evidence against the flying reptile theory. A third, less popular theory, also based on the reported facial features of the Ahool is that this beast may be the worlds first reported case of a flying primate.

Regardless of which theory you may subscribe to it may only be a matter of time before we find out exactly what the Ahool is. With the continued destruction of Java’s rainforests the Ahool’s habitat continues to shrink which may lead to more encounters with the creature by modern man as we encroach further on its home. Unfortunately the destruction of the Ahool’s home may also lead to its extinction before we even get a chance to fully understand its identity.

The Evidence

There is currently no physical evidence to suggest the existence of a creature like the Ahool living in the rainforests of Java.

The Sightings

In 1925, naturalist Dr. Ernest Bartels, son of noted ornithologist M.E.G. Bartels, was exploring a waterfall on the slopes of the Salek Mountains when a giant unknown bat, the Ahool, few directly over his head.

In 1927, around 11:30 pm, Dr. Ernest Bartels encountered the Ahool again. Bartels was laying in bed, inside his thatched house close to the Tjidjenkol River in western Java, listening to the sounds of the jungle Bartels suddenly heard a very different sound coming from almost directly over his hut, this loud and clear cry seemed to utter, A Hool!

From Wiki:

The ahool is a flying cryptid, supposedly a giant bat, or by other accounts, a living pterosaur or flying primate.

Like many cryptids, it is not well documented, and little reliable information - and in this case, no material evidence - exists. Named for its distinctive call A-hool (other sources render it ahOOOooool), it is said to live in the deepest rainforests of Java.

It is described as having a monkey/ape-like head with large dark eyes, large claws on its forearms (approximately the size of an infant), and a body covered in gray fur. Possibly the most intriguing and astounding feature is that it is said to have a wingspan of 3 m (10 ft). This is almost twice as long as the largest (known) bat in the world, the common flying fox.

According to Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark, it was first described by Dr. Ernest Bartels.

Bartels published regular accounts of his work while exploring the Salak Mountains on the island of Java.

One speculation on its existence by the cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson is that it might be a relative of Kongamato in Africa. Others have suggested it were a living fossil pterosaur, on account of its supposedly leathery wings. As is known today, most pterosaurs seem to have had wings that were covered with a downy fluff to prevent heat loss; this may or may not have been necessary in a tropical environment depending on these animals’ metabolism. On the other hand, there might be an entirely mundane explanation:

Two large earless owls exist on Java, the Spotted Wood-owl (Strix seloputo) and the Javan Wood-owl (Strix (leptogrammica) bartelsi). They are intermediate in size between the Spotted Owl of North America or the Tawny Owl of Eurasia, and an eagle owl (horned owl), being 40–50 cm (16–20 in) long and with a wingspan of perhaps 1.20 meters (4 ft). Despite this discrepancy, wingspans are usually overestimated[verification needed]in flying animals not held in hand (see also Thunderbird), especially by frightened observers.

Size nonwithstanding, the Javan or Bartels’s Wood-owl seems an especially promising candidate to resolve the ahool enigma: it has a conspicuous flat “face” with large dark eyes exaggerated by black rings of feathers and a beak that protrudes but little, and it appears greyish-brown when seen from below. Its call is characteristic, a single shout, given intermittently, and sounding like HOOOH!

Like most large owls, it is highly territorial in breeding season and will frighten away intruders by mock attacks from above and behind. Its flight, being an owl, is nearly completely silent, so that the victim of such sweeps usually becomes aware of the owl when it is homes in snarling and with outstretched talons (held at “breast” height to the observer), and would just have time to duck away. The Javan Wood-owl is a decidedly rare and elusive bird not often observed even by ornithologists, and hides during day. It is found in remote montane forest at altitudes of probably around 1,000-1,500 meters, and does not tolerate well human encroachment, logging and other disturbances.

From its appearance and behavior, the Javan Wood-owl matches the characteristics of the ahool surprisingly well, despite the cryptid at first glance giving the impression of a mammal. Observer error due to the circumstances of being dive-bombed in a remote gloomy forest by a fierce snarling and clawing bird may well account for the apparent discrepancies. Notwithstanding, the wood-owls of Java are not generally mentioned in cryptozoological discussions of the ahool, and most authors of cryptozoologial works seem to be entirely unaware of the birds’ existence.

Be that as it may, it is not resolved how well the owls are known to locals, especially the local name - if any - and whether they are present in locations of ahool reports would seem to be highly relevant.