When news of a mysterious creature captured in central China — allegedly an “Oriental Yeti,” or “abominable snowman” — began to spread through the Western news media, there was only one person for journalists to call on for comment: Cosimo author Loren Coleman, perhaps the most famous cryptozoologist in the world.
From the Christian Science Monitor:
“This is not a true yeti. This is more media madness,” says Loren Coleman, author of more than 30 books on mythical creatures, including “Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America” published by Simon and Schuster.Photos today show a four-legged, thick-tailed, hairless animal caught in Sichuan province, reports The Telegraph. The mystery beast is now being sent to scientists in Beijing for DNA testing.
“It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn’t have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo,” one of the Chinese hunters said. “It also does not sound like a bear – it has a voice more like a cat and it is calling all the time – perhaps it is looking for the rest of its kind or maybe it’s the last one?”
If it sounds like a cat, then it probably is a cat, says Mr. Coleman, who opened the International Cryptozoology Museum in November in downtown Portland, Maine. The museum features hair samples and some 150 foot casts credited to Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and the yeti.
More comments from Coleman can be found at AOL News, Discovery News, Metro, and Nu.nl.
Coleman’s cryptozoology books include Mothman and Other Curious Encounters, from Cosimo imprint Paraview, and Mysterious America: The Ultimate Guide to the Nation’s Weirdest Wonders, Strangest Spots, and Creepiest Creatures, from Paraview Pocket Books. Cosimo and Coleman have recently been bringing back into print in beautiful new editions older and harder-to-find classics in the field, as part of the Loren Coleman Presents series:
• The Book of Werewolves by Sabine Baring-Gould
• The Romance of Natural History by Philip Henry Gosse
• The Great Sea Serpent by A. C. Oudemans
• Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life by Ivan T. Sanderson
no comments »