WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Wednesday, November 22, 2017

TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking.


  • PHOTOS: Three Sunda Clouded Leopards Caught on Cam...
  • NEWSLINK: Epic India leopard rescue photo wins awa...
  • NEWSLINK: State forest department to promote solar...
  • NEWSLINK: Tiger mauls boy to death


  • NEWSLINK: Second Lynx Killed At Borth Wild Animal ...



  • THE LAST WEEK AT THE CFZ-USA BLOG

    CFZ-USA


  • POLTERGEIST PHENOMENA
  • A SET OF WEIRD EXPERIENCES
  • BLACK-EYED KID
  • ALIEN CREATURE
  • YOWIE FILMED BY RANGER
  • AMERICAN TOURIST SEES LOCH NESS MONSTER
  • OLDEST DOG IMAGES
  • DO GNOMES EXIST?
  • LAKE MONSTER CAUSED SHOCK!
  • GHOSTS IN FOLKLORE
  • THE NATURE OF BIGFOOT
  • IS THIS A CRAWLING BIGFOOT?
  • EXTRATERRESTRIALS IN KANSAS
  • RUSSIAN ENCOUNTERS BLOND UFONAUTS
  • MOON-EYED PEOPLE
  • ON THE TRACK
  • OSTRICH IN MEDIEVAL CHINA
  • KINOSO - MONSTER OF COLD LAKE
  • WHAT ARE STICK INDIANS?
  • KIKOMBA
  • ENCOUNTERS WITH ALIENS
  • BIGFOOT IN INDIANA
  • ARGENTINE GOBLIN ON VIDEO
  • DIMINUTIVE BEING IN ARGENTINA
  • BIGFOOT IN FLORIDA
  • MANY NESSIE SIGHTINGS THIS YEAR
  • BIGFOOT vs. YETI
  • STRANGE BIGFOOT STORIES
  • YETI MYSTERIES
  • SELKIES - SEAL PEOPLE
  • FAIRY PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY GRANDMOTHER?
  • MONSTERS OF AMERICA
  • DOGMAN IN WALES
  • FLYING HUMANOID STALKS FAMILY
  • TERRORIZED BY BIGFOOT
  • WAS THIS A DEER'S GHOST?
  • FILIPINO GREAT SERPENT
  • ISA BERE - DRAGON OF AFRICA
  • SUCURUJU GIGANTE
  • DID SKUNK APE DAMAGE TREE?
  • FLAT EARTH CONFERENCE
  • HEARTFELT CANIDS
  • MERMAID IN ZIMBABWE
  • STRANGE BEING IN MOSCOW
  • WINGED GOBLIN OF CHICAGO
  • BIGFOOT SUMMIT
  • IS THIS THE TWIN OF THE MILKY WAY
  • MESSAGE TO ALIENS
  • GUARANI MYTHOLOGY
  • WHAT IS A SQUEASEL?
  • NEW FROG SPECIES
  • SELECTION OF SEA MONSTER REPORTS
  • SPIDERBAT - CREATURE OF CANADA
  • BIGFOOT AND FIRE
  • SCREAMED AT BY BIGFOOT
  • WEIRD INDIANA CREATURE
  • NEW MOTHMAN BOOK
  • FINDING ALIEN LIFE
  • QALUPALIK
  • HUGGIN' MOLLY
  • LAKE MONSTER OF COLORADO
  • A LOOK AT MERFOLK
  • DAGTRĂ–LL - IT WANDERS BY DAY
  • WHITE-EYED KIDS
  • MONSTERS OF PUERTO RICO
  • SASQUATCH IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
  • NEWLY DISCOVERED KATYDIDS
  • BIGFOOT IN EAST TEXAS
  • AMERICAN UFO EXPERIENCES
  • SASQUATCH IN CANADA
  • HUNT FOR BIGFOOT


  • CFZ PATREON CAMPAIGN
  • FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


    What has Corinna's column of Fortean bird news got to do with cryptozoology? 

    Well, everything, actually! 

    In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in.




    NESSIENEWS (Caveat Lector)



    Loch Ness monster sightings hit a record high
    Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have hit a record high after the beast was spotted for a ninth time this year. Diana Turner, from Michigan in the US, was watching a live stream of the loch, which scans the water near Urquhart Castle - purportedly a favourite haunt of Nessie. Several recent sightings ...

    Students more likely to see Loch Ness Monster than personal tutor
    A new report this week has confirmed that University of Bristol undergrads have, on average, more chance of spotting Scotland's mythical Loch Ness ...

    CRYPTOLINK: NESSIE'S BACK ‘Loch Ness Monster’ spotted poking out of the water as American tourist becomes NINTH person to see legendary water beast this year

    A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 
    AN AMERICAN tourist watching a webcam of Loch Ness claims to have spotted the elusive monster.
    Diana Turner, in Michigan, is the ninth person to have reported seeing the creature this year after witnessing a "wake movement" in an area said to be one of Nessie's favourites.

     An American woman reported seeing Nessie in the loch at the end of September
    LOCHNESS.CO.UK
    5
    An American woman reported seeing Nessie in the loch at the end of September

    The eagle-eyed woman's sighting means the number of times the mythical creature has been seen this year is the highest this century.
    She was avidly watching a live feed focused on a part of the loch near Urquhart Castle when she claims she saw a wake appear in the water.
    She reported it on September 29 to the officials in charge of the Nessie spottings.
    Gary Campbell, the recorder and keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, told the Daily Mail: "The sighting lasted about two minutes and other than a boat in the distance, she saw no other traffic on the loch.

    CRYPTOLINK: Lake George Monster

    A word about cryptolinks: we are not responsible for the content of cryptolinks, which are merely links to outside articles that we think are interesting (sometimes for the wrong reasons), usually posted up without any comment whatsoever from me. 


    MYTH: The most colourful legend surrounding Lake George is that of a Loch Ness-type monster that has occasionally been reported lurking in the murky depths of the lake (and allegedly retreats to subterranean mud caves when the lake is dry). In fact, an 1866 NSW Road Guide warned travellers "to be ...

    THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN GOES BACK TO THE TOP OF THE SLIDE

    The Gonzo Daily: Wednesday
     
    On Monday I wrote: "There have been a whole spate of deaths, the latest being Charlie Manson and David Cassidy. The latter has provoked some grieving from the girls who were eleven in 1972, and the former a spate of vitriol that is not unexpected and not undeserved". However, various news outlets posted that Cassidy had died, which at that time he hadn't, and I inadvertently promulgated the story. And I apologise profusely to anybody who was upset on Monday by my claims that he was. The bizarre thing, however, was that I was using his supposed demise in contrast with the much publicised death on Sunday of American cultist and mass murderer, Charles Manson. I must be the only person in history who, having written an editorial containing these two men, gets complaints for what he wrote about David Cassidy, who has now passed onto the next plane of existence, rather than what he wrote about the leader of the Family of the Infinite Soul inc.
     
    Forgive me for always banging on about our webTV show, but it matters a lot to me, and I would be grateful for as many people as possible to see it, and spread the tidings of it far and wide:
     
     
    And if you fancy supporting us on Patreon:
     
    But for now, here is the news:
     
    THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
    THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Don't Worry Baby by T...
    When Prog and Power Unite interview with Ian Jones...
    GEOFF DOWNES NEWS
    CORKY LAING ARTICLE
     
    Gonzo Weekly #261
    THE LAMENTING LEN ISSUE
     
    Marking the anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s death, we take a look at the outpouring of grief the tributes manifest, Alan looks at Matthew Smith’s Exist to Resist, Richard presents part three of the Steve Kimock story, and Jon looks at Black Mirror and Netflix.
     
    Hail Eris!
     
    And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney, Strange Harvest, Friday Night Progressive and Canterbury Sans Frontieres. We also have columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, Roy Weard, C J Stone, Mr Biffo and the irrepressible Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and long nosed potoroos who have done lots of poos (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have been at the laxatives, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
    This issue features:
     
    Black Mirror, Beatles, Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, Prince, Alan White, Elton John, Walter Becker, REM, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Charles Henry Mosley III, Frederick Lee Cole, Chad Hanks, Little Mama, Keith Barron, Michael ‘DikMik’ Davies, Lillith and Nilly, Barbara Dickson, Jessica Lee Morgan, Rick Wakeman, Billion Dollar Babies, Tangerine Dream, Peter Perrett, Jeremy Smith, Alan Dearling, Exist to Resist, Matthew Smith, Leonard Cohen, Richard Foreman, Steve Kimock, Kev Rowland, Thy Art is Murder, Travelin Jack, Trem do Futuro, The Two Tens, Ultranova, Venom Inc., Mr Biffo, Roy Weard, Hawkwind, Martin Springett, David Bowie, Gerald Scarfe, Pink Floyd, Chopin, Queen, Elvis, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison
     
    Marking the anniversary of Leonard Cohen’s death, we take a look at the outpouring of grief the tributes manifest, Alan looks at Matthew Smith’s Exist to Resist, Richard presents part three of the Steve Kimock story, and Jon looks at Black Mirror and Netflix.
     
    Issue 260 (Amsterdam Squat Festie)
    Issue 259 (Out come thee Freaks)
    Issue 258 (The Devil's Jukebox)
    Issue 257 (Judge Smith)
    Issue 255/6 (John Lennon)
    Issue 254 (Mr Biffo)
    Issue 253 (Dana Gillespie)
    Issue 252 (Cropredy)
    Issue 251 (Scott Walker)
    Issue 250 (Jamms)
    Issue 249 (Bill Bruford)
    Issue 248 (The Selecter)
    Issue 247 (Don Airey)
    Issue 246 (Steve Hackett)
    Issue 244-5 (Summer Special)
     
     
    All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
     
    You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
     
    SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
     
    * The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
     
    * The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk
     
    * We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!
     
    * Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 58 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown kittens, one totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?

    NEWS FROM NOWHERE - Wednesday

    ON THIS DAY IN - 1718 - English pirate Edward Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard") was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times. 
    And now some more recent news from the CFZ Newsdesk

  • Endangered apes saved from pet trade
  • Bringing back large herbivores to the steppes
  • Dozens of alligators captured prior to child’s dea...
  • Sheep 'can recognise human faces'


  • AND TO WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK... (Music that may have some relevance to items also on this page, or may just reflect my mood on the day).