Black panthers in Illinois are not merely melanistic jaguars far from home. I grew up in central Illinois (1947-1965, 1969-1974) and went to undergraduate school at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (1965-1969). I was out searching for black panthers when I was 14, for example, in Macon County, doing field work on big mystery cat sightings in southeast Illinois when I was 16, and slushing through swamps in southern Illinois more than I was in some classes during my college years at SIU. Needless to say, all those first few years, I wasn’t writing too much about what I was doing, because [...]
Top Ten Cryptozoo Mystery Pix 2006
CryptoZoo News’ Top Ten Mystery Photographs of 2006 1. What mystery fish or whatever is shown on this antique postcard produced between 1904-18? 2. What did researchers Klindt’s & Dianna’s remote cam catch on April 30, 2006, near Mt. Hood, Oregon, USA? 3. What was the "Maine Mutant" photographed by Michelle O’Donnell in Turner, Maine, in August 2006? (This one turned out to be 100% dog.) Images #1, #2, and #3 may be clicked on to make them larger. 4. Was this new photo taken around August 15, 2006, at Lake Nahuel Huap, really the famed Argentinan Lake Monster, Nahuelito? [...]
Clouded Leopards: Two Species
A Clouded Leopard, but which species? (Image: Wikipedia). Hiding in plain sight? It has been discovered, through genetic analysis and other factors, that there is a strong case for the clouded leopard to be divided into two separate species. Presently the clouded leopard is regarded as a monotypic genus with four subspecies. According to the blogsite Big Cat Rescue, there is good reasoning behind the "reclassification and the defining of two distinct species of clouded leopard – Neofelis nebulosa (mainland Asia) and Neofelis diardi (Indonesian archipelago). This case for two clouded leopard species based on genetic distinction that is equivalent [...]
The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2006
The Top Cryptozoology Books of 2006 by Loren Coleman, Cryptozoologist Author, Cryptozoology A to Z, Bigfoot!, and Tom Slick It is time for the annual top picks for the best cryptozoology books of 2006, with attention to each book’s individual achievements noted in recognition of its unique niche within the cryptozoological literature this year. Since 2000, I have published my annual "best of lists" in cryptozoology. Last year’s list of the best non-fiction books can be found here. For more information on each book picked below, please click on its hyperlinked name. Congratulations to the authors, editors, and publishers. Readers, [...]
NZ Black Panther Film
Using the phrase “Black Panther” covers many felines, from the above melanistic jaguar from South America, shown here in a public domain photograph, to melanistic leopards from Africa and Asia. The term has also been used to indicate the reported cryptids from many locations, including New Zealand. A new documentary film is being made in New Zealand, which will discuss the sightings of the “Mid-Canterbury panther.” The black cat has been seen by local residents around Mayfield, Mount Somers and Ashburton, New Zealand. No indigenous melanistic or black felids are known from New Zealand. But several reports exist, including from [...]
Caracal in Nashville?
Local officials in Nashville, after viewing video (see update below) showing the mystery cat in Warner Park, has identified the felid as an African caracal (above) or an Eurasin lynx, according to the Tennessean. Not a cougar. There seems to be a bit more of a push to the caracal theory than any other. However, perhaps the wildlife officials have come up with a bit more exotic explanation than they should have? As one comment at the newspaper site reveals: I have viewed the video of the cat in Warner Park shown on Channel 4 TV news. It is definetly [...]
Ozark Howler: Faux Cryptozoologie
During the last decade, several attempts have occurred to promote the "Ozark Howler" as a real cryptid. After the first round of efforts, I gathered the specifics of the story, discovered the identity of the original hoaxer, and submitted the overview of what happened in a draft manuscript written with Jerome Clark in 1998. The draft would eventually become a published book. A photograph of a real howler, the black howler monkey (Alouatta caraya) of South America. Photographer Jessie Cohen, Smithsonian. The editors at Simon and Schuster, deciding to delete about 25% of the content of the draft mostly due [...]
KC’s Kids CZ Book List
Looking for some suggestions for your holiday gift-giving to add to the book shelves of cryptozoologists-in-training? Trying to come up with colorful presents for those stockings? Here’s some book ideas that are being put out there for kids who are visiting the activities and the current Missouri home of the traveling exhibition that left Bates College only a few weeks ago. The Kansas City Library’s children’s services are recommending various kid-friendly books to go with the new exhibition at the H & R Artspace, the show that is entitled “Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale.” One section of the traveling [...]
Loren Coleman’s Top Cryptids
Halloween 2006 seems as good a time as any to publish a response to several requests I have received lately for my top ten picks in cryptids, those animals that serve as the focus of cryptozoologists. Of course, thinking outside the lines, as I always do, I had to choose thirteen. Also, I had to create two parallel lists. One is for those supported by what I see as the most credible evidence, in my opinion only. For the other group, I see this one as viewed through the public’s eye, those most popular cryptids, monsters, crypto-creatures, or whatever the [...]
Follow CryptoZooNews
Not Found
The resource could not be found.