Book review: Abominable Science! by Loxton & Prothero

By Mike Williams

The last book I had read by so-called "skeptics" on cryptozoology consisted of an anger-filled polemic against the "stupid people that chase monsters that everyone knows cannot exist".
I expected Abominable Science! to be something along the same lines. I was wrong.
But let me make a brief digression.

While on Facebook recently, I noticed some cryptozoologists deriding this book as garbage.
When I asked them directly which pages exactly contained mistakes, I was told that the authors "were being smart arses" in their book.
I agreed that they may well have been, but again I asked what information was wrong.
I was then told by one of the Facebook critics that they had already pointed out problems with the book on another site and were not going to do it again.
And from the cricket sounds to my subsequent questions, I guessed that I had been hit by the dreaded Facebook comeback, "the unfollow". (Apparently when some people find themselves in a corner and cannot answer a question, they "unfollow" the conversation.)

Anyway, this book slays any semblance of the possibility of the existence of the Yeti, Sasquatch and Loch Ness Monster dead.
The authors carefully lay out the claims, and then show you the actual facts.
Personally I gave up years ago on a Sasquatch-type creature ever existing. In Abominable Science, the authors expose all the fakery around the Yeti, and language translation problems involved with the word itself.
Who would not be annoyed at being told there was a Yeti, and having people point at a bear? Just a quick hint: a bear at a distance can be bipedal for short periods of times. There is your Yeti.

A popular representation of a Yeti.

But then the authors went too far and destroyed my fondest, dearest belief in the possible existence of The Loch Ness Monster! :-)
The Loch Ness Monster industry was spawned in the 1930s, around the same time that the first version of King Kong was released in Scotland by Hollywood studios. And in that film was a long-necked water monster. What a coincidence!
But believers often point to the "historical" account of a sighting of the beast by Columba, the Irish missionary monk, in the 560s.What they forget to mention is that it's not a first person account, but a story, one of many stories about Columba, made up by a man called Adomnan about 100 years later.

If you love the cryptozoology field - that is, what's left of it (and what hasn't been destroyed by hoaxing), then you should definitely buy Abominable Science!

 The famous (and disputed) 1934 'surgeon's photo' taken by
Lt. Col. Robert Kenneth Wilson.

A still from the original film King Kong. Inset image: A sketch made from a

witness’s description many months after his sighting.

Is Prof Sykes putting the nail in the Yeti coffin?

by Andrew Masterson, www.brisbanetimes.com.au

October 2013 will go down as a bittersweet watershed in the curious field of cryptozoology - the study of creatures that probably don't exist.
Cryptozoologists are people who search for animals of folklore and rumour: yowies, bunyips, rogue panthers, ape-men, the Loch Ness monster, the Beast of Buderim, the Goatman of Maryland, Oklahoma Octopus and many more.
In October, though, something really weird happened.
A well-respected mainstream geneticist, Dr Bryan Sykes, from Oxford University, announced that he had done DNA tests on two hair samples collected, centuries apart, by yeti hunters. The samples, he reported, both came from a species unknown to science.
For believers in the Abominable Snowman, that was the good news. The bad followed immediately: the species was not an ape, but some type of bear. The mysterious creature roaming the Himalayas was not so much Yeti as Yogi.
Sykes' research, yet to be published in full, has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of Australia's cryptozoological community. The hunt for our own ape-man, the Yowie, continues unabated.
Prime among the Yowie hunters is Rex Gilroy, 70, self-proclaimed ''father of Australian cryptozoology'', author, naturalist and hunter of improbable beasts.
''The silly sketches of Yowies as giant, hairy apes are all wrong,'' he says. ''Yowies are a living form of [human ancestor] Homo erectus.''
Gilroy claims to have collected a number of fossil hominid skulls - of Homo erectus and the even earlier Australopithecus - which he says proves that human ancestors were living in Australia long before the arrival of Aborigines.
Some of his best specimens were discovered near the Fish River in the central western district of NSW.
''I believe there is a population of Homo erectus still living there,'' he said.
''The Yowie is no gorilla-like monster. It's a fire-making, tool-making hominid. I've found campsites and stone tools, some of them only a few months old.''
Gilroy is also active in the hunt for two perennials of Australian cryptozoology - the thylacine and wild panthers.
This last is a popular target for investigation in Victoria. Reports of big cat sightings appear frequently in country newspapers, blurry video clips crop up on telly, and shots of hideously mauled dead sheep are often cited as evidence of big cat kills.
Indeed, in 2012 one of the first acts of incoming Victorian Premier Denis Napthine was to commission a review of big cat sightings. The review, conducted by the Department of Primary Industries, concluded that feral panthers, jaguars or other feline peak predators were almost certainly not roaming around the state.
However, because it is impossible to prove a negative, the report's findings are unlikely to dampen the spirits of the cryptozoological sleuths. Prime among them is Simon Townsend, of Geelong, who heads a group called Big Cats Victoria.
''We are desperate for actual specimens,'' he said, ''but that's a difficult thing. We think the cats are Malay leopards - black leopards - and there are maybe only a couple of dozen across the state.''
Townsend is careful to separate his pursuit from the windier shores of crypto-research.
''We take this as a totally serious undertaking,'' he said. ''We keep well away from the 'goblin university' folk. They're not very useful when you're after something that kills sheep and eats roos.''
Townsend enjoys a long-term collaboration with crypto-sceptic historian Dr David Waldron, based at Federation University in Ballarat. In 2012 the pair combined to produce a book: Snarls from the Tea-Tree: Big Cat Folklore. Waldron said that while ideas of yowies, bunyips and other fabulous beasts can be traced to the creation myths of different Aboriginal communities, the big cat idea arrived with the Europeans.
''Big cat stories go way back into the 19th century,'' he said.
''Settlers found themselves in an alien landscape, and they had to try to make sense of things such as stock predation and farm failures.
''Their tools for doing this derived from European colonial experience in Africa and Asia - where there were big, dangerous animals, including big cats.''
Some early settlers, he said, were startled that there were no monkeys in Australia. In 1826, settlers visiting Rottnest Island heard sounds in the night, noted dig-marks in the ground, and saw a large shape in the water. They concluded the place was home to hippos.
Big cats in the bush are not, in one sense, mythical at all. There have been several cases, especially in the later 19th century, when lions, pumas and so forth have escaped from travelling menageries and nicked off into the scrub. Waldron has a collection of skeletal remnants lodged in Federation University's library.
The myth kicks in with the idea that these cats somehow survived, bred, and established permanent populations. The usual evidence for this - bizarre stock mutilations - is easily explained.
''Most likely, the mutilations are caused by multiple animals,'' said Waldron. ''A wild dog kills the sheep, then a fox has a go, then birds, rats, and so forth. The result looks unusual.''
Back in NSW, Rex Gilroy, perhaps surprisingly, rejects the idea of wild big cats roaming the bush.
''The panther is a marsupial,'' he says. ''It's a large marsupial, possibly a relation to the extinct marsupial lion. There have been plenty of sightings around Katoomba.''
While many professional scientists dismiss cryptozoology as complete fruit-loopery, Professor Bill Laurence, a distinguished biologist at Queensland's James Cook University, sees great value in the field.
He points out that cryptozoologists have a good record of finding ''Lazarus species'' - types of animals presumed to be extinct but subsequently rediscovered. If the thylacine turns out not to be extinct, it will be a cryptozoologist who finds it, if only because no one else is looking.
''I think there is something similar between cryptozoologists and people who search for aliens, for instance,'' Laurence said. ''There's a desire for mystery, a love of the notion of something out there that we don't understand. It touches something deep in the human spirit.''
As for Sykes' possible Himalayan bear-cum-yeti discovery, Laurence is waiting for the full results to be published.
''A giant bear there would be very remarkable,'' he said. ''What's its food base? I'm a bit leery about it, but it's certainly put the cat among the pigeons.''

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/where-the-wild-things-arent-20140103-308eu.html#ixzz2pfaz5zAE

Yowie flick 'Throwback' gets the schlock horror pulp treatment

We love a good movie poster and this one is a pearler!

A new poster has been released for the upcoming Australian horror feature "Throwback."

Designed by Brazilian artist Juarez Ricci, the retro-style poster evokes the '60s/'70s creature features and pulp adventure movies that inspired the film itself.

Writer/Director Travis Bain says he wanted to avoid the clichés of contemporary movie posters.

"From the get-go I knew I wanted an illustrated poster rather than your typical modern 'floating heads' Photoshop design," Bain says. "Juarez's work reminds me of the old Drew Struzan and Richard Amsel posters I grew up with, so he was a natural choice to create this artwork."

"Throwback" follows two modern-day treasure hunters, a female park ranger and an unhinged ex-cop as they tangle with a Bigfoot-type monster known as a Yowie in the remote jungles of northern Australia. The film stars Shawn Brack, Anthony Ring, Melanie Serafin, and Vernon Wells of "The Road Warrior" and "Commando" fame. The new one-sheet poster is available for collectors to purchase at: www.zazzle.com/throwback_one_sheet_movie_poster-228922243441439784

"Throwback" recently premiered at the Bram Stoker International Film Festival in England, and Australian and North American premieres are expected to be announced over the coming months. Already the film has received strong interest from the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York, which recently invited Bain to submit "Throwback" for consideration for their 2014 programme.

"It's not an official acceptance, but it's a step towards one," Bain says. "They're very keen to see the film, so we're crossing our fingers they'll select it for their Midnight Section."

Additionally, the trailer for "Throwback" has been selected for the International Movie Trailer Festival, an online festival in which the public can vote for their favourite trailers. Viewers can vote for the "Throwback" trailer at: www.internationalmovietrailerfestival.com/all-trailers/throwback/

"Throwback" is expected to be released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD in 2014. For film festival or distributor enquiries, visit www.travisbain.com.au or www.facebook.com/throwbackmovie.

Yowie sighted at Bexhill in northern NSW

A Yowie has been sighted on Bangalow Road, just north of Bexhill by a Lismore resident.

The witness said the creature moved across the two lanes of bitumen, raising his arm to apparently shield its eyes from the bright high beam glare of the approaching car.

"I would have seen it for between 20 and 30 seconds," the witness recalled. "It was really moving at the time. It leapt the fence no problem. All I can remember was seeing this large black object with a solid build, lanky legs and long lanky arms.

"It wasn't clothed ... it wasn't wearing clothes like a human."

The witness said the creature ran with a fast, stooped pace. It had high shoulders and almost no neck and a small head.

"It was like its head was shrunken into its shoulders."

Sydney-based yowie researcher, Paul Cropper, said the recent sighting revealed some "classic" elements which provided a common thread linking many experiences by many people over many decades.

"The fact that this thing was heavy set, with long arms and a small head ... these are classic traits," Mr Cropper said.

The area where the yowie was seen has a long history of similar sightings with stories running in the local paper, The Northern Star, since the 1800s.

Meet the Cryptozoologist: Neil Frost

How did you first get involved in researching strange and mysterious creatures?
I became acutely interested in studying the dooligahl on Sunday 21st February, 1993 at 11:15 PM after one stood up and ran past me in the bush across from our house.

What were some of the early influences in your life?
An early influence was scouting, as a cub, scout and senior scout. Our troop leader was a very dedicated and knowledgeable man who, having survived Changi POW camp, was determined to pass on his wealth of experience and bush skills. It was during a seven day camp in the remote upper Grose Valley of the Blue Mountains in 1966 that our troop shared a very strange experience over several nights that was with hindsight, most probably a large male dooligahl.

From an early age I wanted to be either an astronomer or archaeologist. Grinding my own telescope mirrors later helped me to design and build game cameras. Archaeology was not offered at university at that time, so I studied anthropology instead. Three lengthy trips to Papua New Guinea between  1975 and 1980 provided some field experience that could be applied to a study of these hominoids.

Have you personally seen one of these creatures?
Many times, together with family and community members. When activity was greatest, we would typically have up to three encounters per night, every night.

What creatures particularly interest you?
Dooligahls, Quinkin and Junjudee because they are three separate hominoid species and they are Australian.

What cryptids are most likely to exist in your opinion?
One thing that I can be certain of is that anything is possible although, some cryptids are more probable than others.

What’s your favourite?
Dooligahl.

Have you developed any theories around where the more unusual animals - i.e. yowies/bigfoot - have come from?
Even though our Australian hominoids appear to be simplistically similar in form and function to other dextrous bipeds from other parts of the world, particularly North America, this does not mean that they are biologically related. However, the contrary appears to be the common assumption. Consequently, basic theories tend to suggest biological links with pongids like Bigfoot, despite the unlikelihood and lack of evidence supporting a viable migratory route.

Theories based on hominin migration to Australia are less troublesome because technology and culture can overcome boundaries otherwise faced by apes. However, if assuming that earlier species of Homo were capable of the journey, the problem here is their incompatibility with the observed evidence. For example, their reflective red eyes and superior night vision abilities are not hominid or, pongid characteristics.

Alternatively, rather than immigrants, it might be more plausible to think of our hominoids as being indigenous. In other words, several species of marsupial hominoids. This theory scares most people but, it solves many issues, including the need to invent convoluted methods of migration. It is also much more compatible with the evidence, including some of the more bizarre behaviours, like foot thumping, which reportedly occurs in 46 of the 50 extant Australian macropodoid species. Similarly, the elongated legs and feet of some, together with their efficient, high speed locomotion, is typically macropodoid.

Since Australia has been moving North in isolation, from a relatively cold and dark environment for the past 40 million years, there has been a considerable amount of biological experimentation. Everyone is familiar with the platypus: an egg laying, fur covered mammal. Some experimentation, like Thylacoleo carnifex, was convergent. This isolationist period is between five to eight times the length of our own hominid evolution. I can't see a problem with this.

Have you written any books/articles?
I have written two boring computer textbooks but, thankfully, I am working on a lengthy case study of our previously resident dooligahl.

How many mystery animal reports would you receive a year?
This varies widely. Sometimes I receive no reports for weeks and then I get several in one day. On average, somewhere between 1 or 2 a week or say, about 75 a year.

What’s the closest you’ve personally come to finding something?
The most productive time was during the initial period after becoming aware of Fatfoot's existence. It was naive and so it was relatively easy to study it. The only problem was that I was naive too. Consequently, we both learnt from each other with things became more difficult for us both, as we tested and determined each others skills and abilities.

In terms of physical proof, it had to be the orange hair samples that we found on the top strand of a barbed wire fence in the swamp. Most probably, yowie pubic hairs. The unfortunate thing was trusting the samples to someone who did microscopic hair analysis and was also a skeptic. The samples were thrown away.

What’s the farthest you’ve traveled to go ‘in search of’ mystery animals?
Sometimes several hundred meters! Typically these days within the local area.

What’s next for you - any trips planned? Books or articles to write? Talks to give?
The book, another documentary film and probably a few more talks.

Could you share some of your favourite cryptozoology book titles with us?
I mainly read science articles and books but "The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot" is probably my favourite crypto book.

What advice would you give anyone getting into the field of cryptozoology?
Cryptozoology is a very difficult field of study. No professional scientist will touch it for fear of ridicule, especially if they want to advance, as conservatism and compliance are usually required. Consequently, it is left to "amateurs" with no established reputation to uphold, to do the research. However, it is always rewarding to learn something that very few know.

It is essential to form a local network of people who share your interest and are reliable. Sharing information and sources are crucial. Be scientific and critical but, always open minded.

Avoid skeptics. These are arrogant and very sad individuals who take pleasure from putting people down. They are valueless and a waste of effort.

If your area of specialisation is yowie research, remember that you will not be discovering anything that generations of Australian Koori have already known.

Meet the Cryptozoologist: Michael Newton

How did you first get involved in researching strange and mysterious creatures?
As a Cub Scout, back around 1958, I saw articles on Bigfoot and Nessie in Boy's Life magazine. That same year, Reader's Digest published an article on Nessie, and of course Bigfoot was in headlines during '58, near where I lived in California at the time. In high school I read On the Track of Unknown Animals and Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life. I've been collecting any reports and publications I could find ever since.

What were some of the early influences in your life?
Crypto-wise, after the early articles I've mentioned, Dr. Heuvelmans and Ivan Sanderson opened a broader world of possibilities with their various books and Sanderson's articles in what were once called 'men's adventure' magazines. As a child, of course, I was caught up in the dinosaur craze of the 1950s and early '60s, collecting many toys and models. I also had a small menagerie of reptiles, amphibians and arachnids at home. I've leaned toward writing from a very early age, typing little 'books' on an Underwood portable that was a gift from my aunt, illustrating them with drawings and photos clipped from the aforementioned men's magazines and popular monster-movie magazines of that era. Writers whose work convinced me I should try it for real, in nonfiction, were Robert Leckie (military history) and David Chalmers (Hooded Americanism). Chalmers in particular, coupled with current events from my youth (the Freedom Rides, etc.), inspired me to write about the Ku Klux Klan, with five books on the subject published so far and one more forthcoming next year.

Have you personally seen one of these creatures?
Back in 2005 I found a small cougar attacking one of my house cats. Cougars are officially extirpated from Indiana, since the late 19th century.

What creatures particularly interest you? 
Giant snakes and lizards; kongamato and reported living dinosaurs, although I think they're the least likely to be found at this point.

What cryptids are most likely to exist in your opinion? 
While I hope they're all out there, some of the more 'mundane' seem most likely. Surviving Eastern cougars are pretty well confirmed in the United States, despite official reticence to admit it. Large unknowns at sea also seem very plausible, along with creatures in vast wilderness areas where anything could be hiding.

What’s your favourite? 
If I have to pick one, I'd say Nessie, based in equal parts on the mystery and my love of the area around Loch Ness. But living pterosaurs and dinos tug at my heart strings, along with giant anacondas in the Amazon. Wish I could have gone to look for one or both while there was time, alas.

What’s your favourite Australian cryptid? 
I'm particularly fond of Yowies and reports of surviving Megalania, but think some of the mystery cats or a relict thylacine are more likely to be confirmed, in my opinion. Some great books on cryptids Down Under have emerged in the past decade or so, and I'm always pleased to see them.

Have you developed any theories around where the more unusual animals - i.e. yowies/bigfoot - have come from? 
I've always thought Bigfoot/Yeti/et al. spread out from Asia in various directions. I suppose Yowie could have crossed the same land bridges from Southeast Asia that presumably led to Australia's first human habitation, and perhaps big cats likewise, since some of their sightings predate solutions hinging on abandonment of military mascots during World War II.

Have you written any books/articles? 
I've published 12 books and 37 articles in the crypto field, all listed on my website (see below). The latest release is Globsters, from CFZ Press, with Strange Ohio Monsters coming next year in a (hopefully) continuing series of state-by-state cryptid surveys from Schiffer.

Do you have a website? 
Yes. It's www.michaelnewton.homestead.com

What’s the closest you’ve personally come to finding something?
My cougar sighting (#3 above) would be the closest to an actual discovery, although it got away. Report-wise, I try to stay current with Internet newsgroups and blogs, plus clipping anything that turns up in the general media and grabbing the latest books available. I've only received a handful of reports personally, as a result of queries I sent around while working on various books, and once in response to a book already published.

What’s the farthest you’ve traveled to go ‘in search of’ mystery animals? 
Loch Ness, Scotland. I've been there eight or nine times since the mid-1980s. I'd love to go again, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. Thankfully, my last trip over—in 2010—was unexpectedly extended by the Icelandic volcano's eruption that grounded air traffic for several additional days. There are much worse places to be stuck than Scotland!

What’s next for you - any trips planned? Books or articles to write? Talks to give?
There's no travel scheduled, sadly, but as noted above, I do have another book—Strange Ohio Monsters—due for release sometime in 2013. I've also submitted a fourth manuscript to CFZ Press, titled Hoaxed!—which examines evidence for and against some supposed cryptozoological frauds including the Patterson film, the 1934 surgeon's photo of Nessie, and so on. No word back so far as to whether Jon Downes has cleared it for publication, but I'm hopeful. I always have other ideas in the works, as in continuing around the USA for more state-by-state surveys of cryptids in the Strange Monsters series, but never know what time will permit me to finish.

Could you share some of your favourite cryptozoology book titles with us? 
Anything by Dr Karl Shuker or Bernard Heuvelmans (though sadly, most of his work is still unavailable in English; a scandal in my opinion). As noted above, some early work by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman also peaked my interest.

What advice would you give anyone getting into the field of cryptozoology? 
Study as much of the existing literature as possible and keep track of late-breaking news from the Web and mainstream media. Back in 1970, John Keel wrote that wherever you live on Earth, someone within 200 miles has reported seeing some kind of strange creature within your lifetime. That may include something as simple as 'misplaced' species officially unknown from your vicinity, or something truly startling. Scores of previously unknown species are discovered every year, not always from remote locations. If you have the wherewithal, get out and poke around in forests, caves, lakes, wherever. Who knows what you might find?

Is this the sound of a Yowie walking?

In 2010 a mystery animal researcher ventured into a bush location in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. For several minutes he recorded the sound of something walking nearby and throwing what were possibly rocks towards him.

Another researcher, 'Bluegem', who has a background in sound engineering, managed to dampen the man's voice and footsteps so that the other sounds could be more clearly heard.

Thank you to both gentlemen for sharing this audio with us. What do you think, readers?

Have a listen here:

'Throwback' catapults Yowie to the small screen

Seems everyone has Yowie fever!

Another group of film makers is shooting a movie right now in far north Queensland.

It's called Throwback and it's been a labour of love for all involved. They've been filming it for 2 years at various locations around Cairns.

The director, Travis Bain, is so confident it will take off, he's attracted a major name to the production. He arrives in the far north next week, so the Cairns based crew are busily rehearsing the scenes he'll shoot so all will be ready.

Check out the trailer!

Yowie-haunted farm yields weird prints on car!

Holy hairy hominid Batman!

This Yowie-plagued property yielded a few surprises for our cameraman - strange (marsupial?) prints all over the window of the occupant's car.

What? Where? How? Why?

Book review: Yowie Tales 1

by Mike Williams

UPDATE: The reason Mr Green did not answer any questions is because he had "borrowed" the photos he claimed he had captured. Typically unapologetic, Green has now withdrawn the book and is no longer involved in any form of research. The "borrowed" photos and other Green "accidents" are listed here.

Queensland writer Brett Green's book 'Yowie Tales' has just been published, and there are more than a few surprises contained within it.

I found the stories and reports by eyewitnesses really interesting and look forward to the second book by Brett.

The two images purportedly of yowies, if proven to be real one day, could be some of the most important secondary evidence of unusual creatures ever recorded!

The Queensland area that Brett concentrates on in his book surpasses, in many ways, the Blue Mountains of NSW, which has been promoted for many years now as a Yowie 'hot spot'. 

'Yowie Tales' is a definite 'must have' for any cryptozoology enthusiast in Australia. 

Those interested in Bigfoot-type phenomena will be equally enthralled by tales of strange encounters in the Australian bush.

I recently corresponded with Brett by email and sent a list of questions. 

Brett decided to respond to all my questions listed below with this single response:

"Under legal advice, the author has been advised not to make any comment on any unreliable or approved Internet source to any person not duly authorised while a current situation is being investigated."

The Questions

1. In the book sales post on AYR you stated the photos were "verified"

All I am going to say is that the cover image was taken from a genuine photograph from 1998; verified; and has been kept under "wraps"since then along with 3 others.

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=3952

Which person/group examined and "verified" the photo? And how did they verify the photo?

2. On the Australian Yowie Research board we were told there were four photos in total.

In the book we are told "...sadly when the photographs were developed, six were clear, five were blurred." How many clear, unedited photos were there. Four or six?

3. Where are the five blurred photos?

4. Is their anyone who sighted the original negatives that we are able contact?

5. The photos and negatives are very important secondary evidence of unknown creatures.

Were the original photos/negatives ever shown to scientists/anthropologists etc that can be contacted?

6. The "raid" occurred on January 23-2012 "...duly demanded entrance entrance to the authors workplace and confiscated all research files, photographs, negatives, CD and DVD records..." 

Did you have in your possession, at your workplace, the complete roll of negatives of the yowies before the raid?

7. Did the "government departmental staff" remove the complete roll of negatives of the yowies?

8. Regarding the first photo described in the book, the two males, there is this description:

Then out of nowhere, two creatures appeared on top of the rocky waterfall ledges near a fig tree in a fighting mode as they stood with their backs towards me and facing(or gesturing to other invisible entities in the far tree line ahead ( I was around 100 feet up the hill from them with the road in between, I snapped some hurried snapshots without thinking then they disappeared.

This photo (not released yet, but discussed in the book) was shown to me. This interesting photo shows two creatures level with the photographer. The current description of any elevation above the creatures is impossible. Can the author please explain this?

9. Over the last 14 years since the incident, has the author had time to re-create the original photos at the location?

10. On page 113 "some of the 'illustrations' officialdom did not want anyone to see".

Why would a government department not want the photos to be seen, but allow you to use the photos, so that people can see them?

12. The original interview with AYR is below.

http://www.yowiehunters.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=145

The original story was five witnesses and no photos.

"It was at this location where Brett and 4 friends had witnessed first hand the power of the Yowie in a freak incident while bush walking 3 years ago... Brett went through the story stage by stage, pointing out the exact places and what was viewed... It was a most incredible and amazing story with the names of all the people involved as back up of the encounter."

The next version of the story in 'Yowie Tales' is one witness and photos. Can the author please explain this?

13. The author has been a Justice of the Peace for over 40+ years. With your legal background, are you claiming that you handed over your entire life's work and forgot to ask the two government staff for a copy of the search warrant, forgot to ask them where the police were to serve the warrant, forgot to ring the police and demand these people leave your property, forgot to ask the two government staff for identification for you to record, forgot to ask them for receipts for items seized, and forgot to write down their car registration?

14. If you have handed over your life's work to two frauds, who were not government employees, how could they have possibly known that you knew absolutely nothing about the law (even less than Joe Citizen) and would merely hand over your life's work? They essentially were risking jail time by impersonating government officials while carrying out an illegal raid with fraudulent documentation.

Can the author please explain this?

Source:LiveScience

The Live Science website has made this cracker graphic freely available to promote its story on bigfoot-type creatures, so pop on over and check it out!

"The big hairy monster we call Bigfoot has both eluded and fascinated many, with blurry photos and even blurrier video being some of the best evidence the creature exists.

"The Down Under variety, dubbed Yowie, reportedly stands anywhere from 5 to 11 feet (1.5 to 3.4 meters) tall, and has yellow or red eyes deeply set inside a dome-shaped head."

We wonder what a similar survey would turn up in Australia?

Read more here.

New human-like species found in China

Red Deer Man, as depicted by Peter Schouten.

The cryptozoological world is buzzing with the discovery of a new human-like species in China, and what this could mean in relation to Bigfoot-style sightings all over the world. It seems we're discovering new relatives all over!

Of course China has had its fair share of 'manbeast' sightings with the Yeren or Wildman reportedly sighted in Yunan Province, about  day's drive away from where these fossils were discovered.

The Red Deer People, so-called after an analysis of the previously unearthed bones yielded evidence of a mixture of modern and ancient anatomical traits, were cave-dwelling, deer-eating people who lived 11,000-15,000 years ago.

Neanderthal Man as depicted in a recreation.

Fossils from two caves in south-west China revealed the previously unknown Stone Age people and give a rare glimpse of a recent stage of human evolution with startling implications for the early peopling of Asia.

The fossils are of a people with a highly unusual mix of archaic and modern anatomical features and are the youngest of their kind ever found in mainland East Asia.

One of the skulls thought to be of the 'Red Deer People'. Photo: David Curnoe 

Dated to just 14,500 to 11,500 years old, these people would have shared the landscape with modern-looking people at a time when China's earliest farming cultures were beginning, says an international team of scientists led by Associate Professor Darren Curnoe, of the University of New South Wales, and Professor Ji Xueping of the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology.

Details of the discovery are published in the journal PLoS One. The team has been cautious about classifying the fossils because of their unusual mosaic of features.

"These new fossils might be of a previously unknown species, one that survived until the very end of the Ice Age around 11,000 years ago," says Professor Curnoe.

"Alternatively, they might represent a very early and previously unknown migration of modern humans out of Africa, a population who may not have contributed genetically to living people."

The remains of at least three individuals were found by Chinese archaeologists at Maludong (or Red Deer Cave), near the city of Mengzi in Yunnan Province during 1989. They remained unstudied until research began in 2008, involving scientists from six Chinese and five Australian institutions.

A Chinese geologist found a fourth partial skeleton in 1979 in a cave near the village of Longlin, in neighbouring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It stayed encased in a block of rock until 2009 when the international team removed and reconstructed the fossils.

Scientists removing and examining the fossils.

The skulls and teeth from Maludong and Longlin are very similar to each other and show an unusual mixture of archaic and modern anatomical features, as well as some previously unseen characters.

While Asia today contains more than half of the world's population, scientists still know little about how modern humans evolved there after our ancestors settled Eurasia some 70,000 years ago, notes Professor Curnoe.

The scientists are calling them the "Red-deer Cave people" because they hunted extinct red deer and cooked them in the cave at Maludong.

The Asian landmass is vast and scientific attention on human origins has focussed largely on Europe and Africa: research efforts have been hampered by a lack of fossils in Asia and a poor understanding of the age of those already found.

Homo Floriensis.

Until now, no fossils younger than 100,000 years old have been found in mainland East Asia resembling any species other than our own (Homo sapiens). This indicated the region had been empty of our evolutionary cousins when the first modern humans appeared. The new discovery suggests this might not have been the case after all and throws the spotlight once more on Asia.

"Because of the geographical diversity caused by the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, south-west China is well known as a biodiversity hotspot and for its great cultural diversity. That diversity extends well back in time" says Professor Ji.

In the last decade, Asia has produced the 17,000-year-old and highly enigmatic Indonesian Homo floresiensis ("The Hobbit") and evidence for modern human interbreeding with the ancient Denisovans from Siberia.

"The discovery of the red-deer people opens the next chapter in the human evolutionary story – the Asian chapter – and it's a story that's just beginning to be told," says Professor Curnoe.

Yowie encounters on the NSW South Coast

We've pulled up some more video from the archives about one of our favourite topics - the yowie!

Two glowing red eyes, an ominous growl, flying stones, tortured screams...what could it have been?

Listen to Mike's interview with this NSW witness...

The Lake George Yowie

Over the years we've amassed quite a bit of interesting footage - mostly witness interviews but occasionally wildlife footage as well. We've also been given footage to share, and this latest offering from authors Tony Healy and Paul Cropper is a pearler - an interview with a man who saw the Lake George Yowie in the mid-1970s!

Lake George (also known by its indigenous name Weereewa - 'bad water') is an aquatic conundrum, a 25km long shallow, salty body of water that lies between Sydney and the nation's capital, Canberra. Its ebb and flow - the Lake will dry up completely for years at a time - has been the source of much local superstition and legend. Several fishermen and five Duntroon military academy cadets have drowned in its waters, and all manner of things have been found when the waters have receded - including a plane!

All kinds of phenomena has visited its unpredictable shore - ghosts, UFOs, and as you'll hear now, even Australia's own bigfoot, the yowie!

The cheeky fox and the yowie men

If you spend enough time in the Australian bush you'll see all kinds of animals - many of them not native. This very tame - or game - fox made friends with some Canberra yowie hunters and visited their campsite for a cheeky feed of bacon and sausages!

The intrepid cryptid hunters did come across a bit of strangeness in the wilderness - what looked to be an unusual print and a strange 'structure' of sticks. Or was it?

Are modern-day monsters just primal memories?

Bigfoot. Werewolves. Vampires. Succubi. Water monsters. Dragons. Are they merely all embroidered primal memories, part of an innate 'predator identification' system that keeps modern humans hyper vigilant to the threat of potential predators?

Do these frightening creatures only exist in our imaginations - terrifying memories of a time when humans were prey for a range of fierce predators?

Salon.com this week has an interesting article entitled 'why we invented monsters', revisiting a not entirely original premise that stories about dragons, ape men and other frightening beasts are merely echoes from the days of our primitive ancestors, who regularly witnessed dinosaurs and other creatures attacking and eating their brethren. The article's author Paul A. Trout, in discussing his new book on the same subject, Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination, writes:

"Monsters fill the mythic landscape. In Hawaiian myth, there is a human with a “shark-mouth” in the middle of his back. In Aboriginal myth, there is a creature with the body of a human, the head of a snake, and the suckers of an octopus. In South American myth, there is the were-jaguar; in Native American myth, there are flying heads, human-devouring eagles, predatory owl-men, water-cannibals, horned snakes, giant turtles, monster bats, and even a human-eating leech as large as a house. In Greek myth, one finds Polyphemus, the one-eyed cannibal giant; the Minotaur, a monstrous human-bull hybrid that consumes sacrificial victims in the “bowels” of the subterranean Labyrinth; and Scylla, the six-headed serpent who wears a belt of dogs’ heads ravenously braying for meat...

"Every day over the course of several million years, our ancestors saw (and heard) living creatures being torn apart and devoured by hungry animals — with some victims still kicking as they were eviscerated and dismembered. No wonder our brains are wired to make us dread this awful fate, and that the stories we tell ourselves reflect this dread and attempt to express it — press it out.

"The archetype of the monster is an expression of this primal fear writ large, exaggerated and intensified to an outlandish degree. But why does this primal fear take the form of a “monster,” that is, a predatory creature that grotesquely mixes animal or human-and-animal physical features? In what way did our experiences as a prey species contribute to the formation of the mythic monster ?"

You can read the whole thing here.

Trout's article reminded us of another book recently brought to our attention, out for a couple of years now, Them and Us by Danny Vendramini, which raises the spectre of cannibal neanderthals, who he argues terrorised early man, raping and killing (and in some cases eating) hapless humans.

We're still awaiting our copy in the mail, but in his book, the Australian-based Vendramini examines, among other things, the pervasive belief in ferocious nocturnal predators that prey on humans after dark. He reveals it to be yet another vestige of Neanderthal predation. We fear dark forests because Neanderthals were nocturnal hunters. You can download sample chapters for here.

Vendramini, a self-described Darwinian scholar, has put together this short video about his book, and it makes for interesting viewing - 

But his refreshing treatise doesn't quite stretch to explaining, for example, anything about multiple witness sightings or physical trace evidence left behind in many bigfoot (and other cryptid) cases. Or deal in yet-to-be-discovered species of ape, for that matter. Yet. The book may well cover those topics, in which case we will update this post with our thoughts.

So is Bigfoot a living breathing archetype perhaps? If we all mimic storybook hero Peter Pan and say "I do believe in Bigfoot! I do! I do!" will it make it thus? We'd love to hear what you think.

A sneak peek at the new Orang Pendek book...

Isn't it grand? We'll be ordering a copy of Orang Pendek: In Search of Sumatra's Forgotten Ape ASAP after it has rolled off the printers.

Artist Mark North is the man behind the stunning cover; CFZ Zoological Director Richard Freeman is the author whose writing, multiple trips to Sumatra and unique insight will combine to make this an unforgettable tome; and CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the brains behind bringing this book to publication.

Tell Santa you want this one for Christmas cobbers!

And for those who want a taste of what might be contained therein, watch our CFZ Sumatra Expedition video here:

From the archives: Australia has its Yowie (1970s)

Special thanks to Mike Hardcastle over at Steampunk and Phenomena: Mad Science and Natural History, Victorian Style.

Yes Virginia, there are hairy men in Canberra

Well, hairy men at least, as evidenced by this mural discovered by eagle-eyed CFZ contributor David Hearder in Canberra.

So who are these hairy men? And from where did they come?

The mural is etched in granite and graces Magna Carta Place in Canberra, a monument to commemorate the centenary of Federation of Australia and a gift from the British Government. The site was dedicated in 1997, which was the 700th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta by King Edward I of England. But back to the hairy men.

The French mural Bal des Ardents, which translates as 'Ball of the Burning Men', depicts a very real event - a rather grim ending to an evening of masquerade in 1393.

As Wikipedia sums it up: On 29 January 1393, at the behest of the king, a grand party was organized to celebrate the wedding of one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at the Hotel de Saint Pol. At the suggestion of a Norman Squire, Huguet de Guisay, the King and four other lords dressed up as wild men and danced about chained to one another. They were "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy and hairy from head to foot".

At the suggestion of one of the "wild men," Yvain de Foix, the king commanded – in view of the obvious danger of fire – that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. Nonetheless, the King's brother, Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch in order to discover the identity of the masqueraders, and he accidentally set one of them on fire.

Alternatively, it may have been a plot to kill the mentally deficient king. In any case, there was panic as the fire spread. The Duchess of Berry, to save a dancer who had come near her to intrigue and tease her, threw the train of her gown over him, and it was soon revealed to her that the life she had saved was the king's. Several Knights who tried to put out the flames were severely burned on their hands. Four of the wild men perished: Sir Charles de Poiters son of the Count of Valentinois, Huguet de Guisay, Yvain de Foix and the Count of Joigny. Another, Jean son of the Lord de Nantouillet, saved himself by jumping into a dishwater tub.

So you see, there really are hairy men in Canberra!

Magna Carta Place in Canberra.

Richard Freeman at the Weird Weekend 2011

The CFZ's zoological director Richard Freeman (pictured above at right, with Dr Chris Clarke and Adam Davies) waxed lyrical at this year's Weird Weekend about the Centre's 2010 India Expedition in search of the Mande-Burung.