[1] Du Chaillu refers to the ape as Koolakamba based upon his description of words used by the indigenous peoples (Nkomi and Bakalai) in the region of the Ovenga River of West Central Africa, modernly Gabon.

[4][better source needed] According to DuChaillu (1861 and 1869), the physical characteristics described for Koolakamba include a short and broad pelvic structure, large supraorbital ridge, high zygomatic ridges, less prominent "muzzle", dentition in which the upper and lower incisors meet squarely forming a grinding surface, and a larger cranial capacity than that of the common chimpanzee.

He includes the indigenous names and lore relevant to the ape, descriptive text, and presumably accurate illustrations, but limited quantitative (mostly anthropometric) data.

This settles all the questions about the gorilla, chimpanzee, Kooloo Kamba,....etc.” In November 1996, a picture of an unusual ape (taken by Peter Jenkins and Liza Gadsby at the Yaounde Zoo, Cameroon) was featured in the Newsletter of the Internal Primate Protection League (IPPL).

This picture showed a seemingly hybrid ape with wider face and a larger skull than that of a chimpanzee and smaller than that of a gorilla.