Meet the Cryptozoologist: Jonathan McGowan

Jonathan McGowan on the big cat trail in Dorset.

How did you first get involved in researching strange and mysterious creatures?
I first got interested in searching for strange creatures when I saw out-of-place large cats in the early 1980s, and also having a fascination for the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti and Bigfoot.

What were some of the early influences in your life?
My early influences were Arthur C. Clarke's mysterious world and books about Bigfoot.

Have you personally seen one of these creatures?
I have seen more than 20 large cats in UK, no sightings of yeti or Bigfoot.

What creatures particularly interest you?
The Yeti and Bigfoot interest me more than any other.

What cryptids are most likely to exist in your opinion?
The Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine), and the Yeti.

What’s your favourite?
I don't do favorites, but I love the Yeti and Bigfoot, if it exists. My favourite Australian cryptid has got to be the Queensland Tiger.

Have you developed any theories around where the more unusual animals - i.e. yowies/bigfoot - have come from?
I have developed some theories about most cryptids.

Have you written any books/articles?
I have just completed my book on big cats, which is yet to be edited let alone published, but I hope it gets out soon.

Do you have a website? How can people contact you?
My website is not so much about cryptids but generally natural history with a 'big cat' blog. You can visit it here - www.thenaturalstuff.co.uk.

How many mystery animal reports would you receive a year?

I receive hundreds of reports of large cats a year.

What’s the closest you’ve personally come to finding something?
I have been a metre away from a leopard in Dorset and also a puma. On expedition with the CFZ we found evidence of a Yeti and also an Orang Pendek.

What’s next for you - any trips planned? Books or articles to write? Talks to give?
I'll be joining the CFZ team on expedition to Tasmania, and probably Sumatra again at some time in the future. I give many talks on big cats and I am due to give a talk on the Yeti.

Could you share some of your favourite cryptozoology book titles with us?
I like all books on cryptozoology, especially those on the huge apes, and big cats. Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers is one of the best.

Jonathan McGowan on expedition in Sumatra in 2011 with David, his guide.

Day 3 of the CFZ Weird Weekend 2012

Sunday at the Weird Weekend 2012 In Woolfardisworthy, Devon.

By Tania Poole - from the CFZ Australia, now living in the wilds of a Yorkshire valley...

Apparently, during the night, here in Woolfardisworthy, a leopard was heard calling nearby! Jon McGowan, a large cat expert and hunter, heard it at about 5am, while he camped by the local Community Centre. Jon has heard many large cats before, so he should know. Yes, all manner of weird things come to the Weird Weekend, even cryptids like out-of-place leopards.

First of the day was Richard Muirhead’s ‘The Flying Snakes of Namibia’ where he looked into old stories from the 1950s where someone saw a flying snake – or thought they did. Since then and in many areas of this south western part of Africa, people who see lights in the sky at night, don’t say it’s a UFO like we would, but that it’s a flying snake with glowing lights on its head.

Lars Thomas gave us a run down on the cryptids of Denmark, ranging from bugs, beetles, wolves, and chipmunks, to trolls, hominids and lake monsters. Lars not only reads a lot, and travels to see  location of sightings, but he uses the microscope to discover what is out there – and has tested many hairs under a microscope, finding leopards, out-of-place cats, hominids, and even a platypus hair…from New Zealand. The old stories in Denmark of hominids and hairy creatures are found in many old documents from wooden carvings to old manuscripts. He also knows of a colony of Siberian Chipmunks that live in forests in Denmark, but is uncertain how they got there. The questions at the end even involved Trolls, and it was clear to Lars and many others that questions were asked in relation to the ‘Troll Hunter’ movie, released in 2011.

Richard Freeman spoke about the Sumatra expedition of 2011 – so far the largest group to go on an expedition, splitting 3 teams up to cover more ground to try and see the Orang-Pendek. Even our fair Rebecca Lang was mentioned, as she and Mike Williams were two of the explorers. There was no success in seeing the cryptid this time round, like the sighting in 2009, but Richard still has hopes to see something one day and tick this off as ‘found’ for the CFZ.

Lars and Jon teamed up to talk about the nature walk they took people on the grounds of the community centre, and Lars came back with photos of several bugs and flies – including over a dozen types of hover fly.

Ronan Coghlan, the CFZ’s ever hilarious trickster talked about Sinbad the sailor, and the cryptids he had encountered. This re-introduced us to creatures like the Roc, and the ‘Old Man of the Sea’ – from Sumatra and probably like our Orang-Pendek or even the Flores dwarf.

Jon ended the Weird Weekend by remembering those lost to us this year – Jeanett Thomas, the late wife of Lars, and Lionel Beer’s long term partner Joy who passed away this week. And there was acknowledgment of a CFZ birth and a wedding too.

The dinner was held in the hall this year, with a wonderful meal presented to us by the lovely ladies of the community centre, and we all ended the night eating a CFZ cake too. After dinner, a small few of us stayed behind and watched ‘Occasional Monsters’ a British film that, I think, was inspired by Nick Redfern’s book ‘Three Men seeking Monsters.’

Due to the excitement about possibly having a leopard nearby, Max Blake, Jon McGowan, Darren Naish, and Mark North appeared to walk away from the Community Centre equipt with headlights, torches and wet weather gear, into the dark fields of the Devon countryside in search of it. The rest of us (now an even smaller group) listened to Silas Hawkins read out a third story of Richard Freeman’s book ‘Green Unpleasant Land’ – this one a rather creepy one about the Bodmin little people. Richard is an excellent writer of the macabre and I recommend this book, and not just to those interested in forteana, but those who love ghost stories.

This ended the XIIIth Weird Weekend for 2012, and as a representative of the Australian CFZ gang, I was honoured to be there (It certainly helps when you are currently living in Yorkshire). Thanks to Jon and Corinna Downes, and all other members of the CFZ that helped me out this weekend. And thanks to Joe Thomas who taught me how to say Haribo properly! Those of you who have not been to a Weird Weekend, make an effort, DON’T MISS IT!

CFZ Sumatra expedition guide Sahar Dimus dies

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Sahar Dimus, who only a few months ago helped to organise and run our CFZ expedition to Sumatra in search of the Orang pendek.

Expedition leader Adam Davies has written a tribute on his Extreme Expeditions website.

"I first met Sahar in 2001, when he was part of Debbie Martyr's Tiger protection team. On that occasion, I was enormously impressed by his tracking skills-he was I think, the best in the world for years (and I have plenty of experience with international trackers). He had a great affinity with nature, and was keen to protect the forests he so loved. Since then, Sahar has always led the Sumatran contingent of my expeditions, and I found him to be a highly organised and jovial guy..."

Read the entire tribute here.

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:

Fortean Times Unconvention 2011

This year's Fortean Times Unconvention already has some great talks slated for the weekend. There's plenty of time to buy tickets (and book flights!) for the weekend of November 12-13.

Australian Tania Poole will be covering all the action for CFZ antipodean readers.

After the huge success of last year’s event, UnConvention is back and presenting a wide-ranging, two-day programme of talks and events devoted to the odd, the intriguing and the inexplicable, including speakers and scholars from every realm of forteana, from cryptozoology and conspiracy to parapsychology and ufology – not to mention dog philosophers, cursed stones and a certain talking mongoose called Gef!

UnCon 2011 will be held in the Camden Centre, a central London location opposite King’s Cross station, ideally situated for transport links and providing a fully licensed bar and café.

Be sure to catch:

All Ape-men Great and Small - Richard Freeman
The search for unknown hominids continues – from the 10-foot-tall Yeti to the rather les imposing Orang Pendek. In November 2010, the Centre for Fortean Zoology took an expidition into the Garo Hills of Northern India in search of the yeti, or mande burung as it is know locally. They uncovered not only eyewitness reports and tracks but also stories of a monster snake unknown to science. In September of 2011, the CFZ mounted their fourth expedition to Sumatra in search of the Orang Pendek, building on the 2009 trip, where the creature was sighted and hair found. Richard Freeman will be giving full accounts of the results of these latest expeditions.

and...

Science and Sasquatch: the life of Grover Krantz - Brian Regal
Physical anthropologist Grover Krantz (1931-2002) was the most well known scientist to publicly champion the existence of the North American cryptid called Sasquatch—also known as Bigfoot. While he did not originate it, he actively promoted the idea that this creature was an evolutionary descendent of Gigantopithecus. For his efforts, he was dismissed or ignored by academics who viewed the Sasquatch as at best a relic of folklore and at worst a hoax, and also received a negative reaction from amateur Bigfoot researchers, some of whom threatened and abused him.

Hunt for the Orang Pendek 2011 - the video!

You've heard all about our expedition on this blog and elsewhere, now enjoy this short presentation on this year's expedition...

A miscellany of Orang Pendek reports

From the Calgary (Alberta) Herald, March 14, 1958.

You might recall we ran an article while we were in Sumatra about the discovery of a so-called 'ape-girl'. 

So was this ape girl really an Orang Pendek candidate? Or just a feral girl or lost child? 

Perhaps she was even a member of a tribe of small-statured people rumoured to live in the furtherest reaches of Sumatra...

Here we've collected together a miscellany of articles about, and possibly related to, the subject of our recent quest - enjoy!

From The Adelaide Mail, August 13, 1932.

The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times (Broadford, Vic. : 1893 - 1916), Friday 22 March 1912.

Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Thursday 6 July 1922.

Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1885 - 1954), Saturday 3 January 1925.

The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Thursday 23 June 1932.

Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Monday 27 June 1932.

Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), Tuesday 23 August 1932.

Sumatra expedition covered by The Guardian

The CFZ's Richard Freeman wrote these two articles prior to the CFZ Sumatra Expedition kicking off.

>>> On the trail of the Orang Pendek, Sumatra's mystery ape

>>> Orang Pendek quest begins in Sumatra

Enjoy!

We're back from the jungle!

The team en route to the forest - it was no easy slog!

The team arrived home in dribs and drabs over the weekend - Holland, the UK and Australia - tired but elated from two weeks of hard yakka in the jungle looking for one of the Southern Hemisphere's most interesting cryptids: Orang Pendek.

Between us all we have dozens of game trail camera images, prints and photographs to analyse and send off for expert analysis. It was a fruitful trip!

This was despite frequent illness, torrential rain, language barriers and negotiating harsh terrain on a daily basis. Thankfully everyone has arrived home safe - and had a great time to boot.

Here's the official release:

UNIQUE DISCOVERY FURTHERS THE CASE FOR EXISTANCE OF ORANG PENDEK

A ten strong team led by Adam Davies has built upon the existing evidence for Orang Pendek – the “short man of the forest” in Western Sumatra. They have just returned from a two week expedition with what could be the world’s first handprint of the creature. This of course requires independent expert verification and although there are similarities to previous prints, it is still unlike any other verified so far.

The international team constituted:
extreme-expedition members Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson, (UK)
Members of the CFZ (Centre for Fortean Zoology) Richard Freeman, Dr Chris Clark, Lisa Dowley and Jon McGowan (UK),
Rebecca Lang and Mike Williams (Australia CFZ),
Independent field researchers Tim De Friel and Dave Archer.
Notably Archer witnessed the Orang Pendek in the flesh on expedition in the same area in 2009.

The expedition concentrated its searches around Lake Kerinci and the “gardens” area in the lower elevation rainforest, both areas of previous sightings and secondary evidence. Whereas the “gardens” team returned with three partial footprints, the possible handprint, was found in the jungle surrounding Lake Kerinci.

The print is to be sent for independent analysis, but furthers the body of evidence for Orang Pendek. Unidentifiable hairs also found in the immediate vicinity are to undergo similar independent testing.

Upon completion, expedition leader Adam Davies stated “This was a really successful expedition. I am fortunate to have had such a determined and dedicated team and feel confident that the findings, once analysed, will help further verify the existence of Orang Pendek, whose habitat is under great ecological pressure.”

Stay tuned for more updates!