Moe Escapes

Moe, the chimpanzee, has escaped from Jungle Exotics in San Bernardino County, California. (Moe's former owner was the guy mauled by two chimpanzees while he was visiting Moe at an animal sanctuary.) (News source.)

Folkloric Creature

A Philippines folkloric creature has been blamed for livestock killings: (News source.)

"Was it an ‘aswang’ (the Filipino’s version of a vampire) that killed sheep and goats in barangay Lower Manongol here?
"On Sunday, three goats owned by Cielo Alonzo were seen dead and disemboweled, in a vacant lot owned by Danny Guerero in Purok 2A, Barangay Lower Manongol here, around 2:30 p.m.
"Some residents believed the folkloric creature was the attacker, as the internal organs of the domesticated livestock were gone. But police dismissed the story as baseless."

New Zealand Big Cat

A large feline was reported from the Northland: (News source.)

"A giant wild cat described as possibly even a lion was seen by a firefighter and his son during an urban search and rescue exercise in a quarry at Kaiwaka, 90 minutes north of Auckland.
"Kaiwaka Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer John Bowmar began an investigation after the sighting about 5pm on May 29 during the exercise, which involved more than 100 firefighters, police, ambulance and search and rescue staff.
"The pair saw 'something rather large and unusual' about 30 metres away on the ridge of the Parker Lime Company quarry, Bowmar told Sunday News.
"'It was not a sheep, it was not a dog it was a very large cat.'"

Indiana: Cougar Sightings

There have been a few sightings of a large brown cat with a long tail on a dairy farm in Delaware County, IN. (News source.)

Ontario: Black Feline Sighting

From the Canadian news:

"A large cat was reportedly seen in central Lambton County on Wednesday, one day after a black bear was spotted just east of the county line.
"Lambton OPP said the cat was spotted walking across Forest Road between Highway 402 and London Line, before entering a wheat field just west of Warwick.
"The animal was described as black in colour and weighing between 150 and 200 pounds.
"The sighting remains unconfirmed and there is no concern for public safety, police said." (News source.)

Odd Bones

An odd carcass found on Longboat Key, in Florida, by a vacationing family, hasn't been positively identified by an experts, though they make several guesses. View slideshow here.

Old Crypto Rat Story

In 1908, the native New Zealand rat was believed extinct. From a retrospective:

"Some little while ago Mr Robert Gibb, now Inspector of Apiaries, but formerly a school teacher with a decided leaning towards natural history, told a somewhat incredulous body of savants, through the columns of the Wyndham Farmer, that the native rat of New Zealand was not an extinct animal, as was generally supposed to be the case.
"He declared that he had seen the little rodents nibbling the roots and climbing trees in the native bush surrounding the school at Haldane, in the Waikawa district, and within half a mile of the sea coast, over which school he then presided.
"Mr Robert Hamilton, who resides in that district, corroborates Mr Gibb's statement, and declares that he has seen these animals frequently in the bush.
"They are, he says of a light greyish colour, and in shape resembling a cross between the common rat and a mouse.
"Mr Hamilton is confident that he can secure one or more of the animals alive."

Today, the rat has been synonymized with the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), so is no longer considered a distinct species.

Lost Tribe Wasn't

The images of an alleged "lost tribe" in the Brazilian-Peruvian Amazon border turned out to be an isolated tribe that was known since 1910. The photos were deliberately released (and story concocted) as a publicity stunt to increase political pressure on logging companies that might endanger any actual unknown people groups in the region. (News source.)

Photographer's Troubles

The Chinese man who claimed to have photographed a South China tiger has been detained by police... (News source.)

Don't Rely on the Unreliable

I've seen far too many excuses about trying to "protect" a species from "monster" hunters who discount acquiring physical proof, instead focusing on unreliable evidence. Then, of course, they try (in some cases successfully) to use the unverifiable evidence to push legislation intended to protect the animal, whatever it is.

Instead of protecting it, of course, all they do is make it more difficult to actually acquire proof of existence. Good legislation backs good conservation practice, and is supported by good science. Poor legislation hampers successful conservation, as there is no way to determine what factors may or may not affect a population nobody knows anything about. So you've kept hunters from shooting a Bigfoot (as if that's ever been a real problem); how exactly does your law protect a population of Bigfoot from environmental encroachment or habitat fragmentation?

Not everyone has the ability to search for sufficient physical evidence; there's nothing wrong with that. But that's not reason to denigrate those who do. In any case, there's an interesting study recently published on case studies of recognized (though rare) species, and the results of relying on shoddy evidence. (Eurekalert)

Using Anecdotal Occurrence Data for Rare or Elusive Species: The Illusion of Reality and a Call for Evidentiary Standards (Abstract)
Kevin S. McKelvey, Keith B. Aubry, and Michael K. Schwartz
BioScience 58(6), June 2008, pp. 549-555

Still Looking

Researchers are still searching for the Ivorybill... (News source.)

Monkey Loose

A monkey was reported roaming Lafayette, Indiana. (News source.)

Cougar in Kentucky

An article here notes a recent sighting of an alleged mountain lion in Kentucky, as well as several previous sightings by conservation officers.

"Someone, a credible source who did not wish to be named, had seen what he was certain was a mountain lion near the Wabash River, which is as specific as I intend to get about the place it was allegedly seen.
"Actually this farmer was sure he'd seen two different cats, one of about 120 pounds with a four-foot tail and another one a couple days later in the same area of about 80 pounds and a shorter tail."

Missouri Black Feline: Leopard

The black feline that was shot and killed by a Newton Co., MO, sheriff's deputy has been identified as a melanistic leopard by a zoo curator. (News source.)

"Python" Shot and Lost

A Putnam Co., Georgia, sheriff's deputy shot and killed a large snake (alleged but not confirmed a python) in the waters of Lake Sinclair. The snake sank to the bottom, and no pictures were taken. (News source.)

Kangaroo?

A 5-foot tall kangaroo-like animal has been reported several times in the vicinity of the Pensacola (FL) Junior College. (News source.)

Nonggang Babbler

A new species of small bird has been described from China, near the border with Vietnam. (New source.)

Name the Lake Monster

This must be the season for cryptozoological contests. Details here for entering a name for the Lake Merritt monster.

Sasquatch Story

Here is a review of a classic story about a hunter in British Columbia who encountered what may have been a sasquatch, in 1955.

Mississippi: Black Cat

From Mississippi: (News source.)

"Jamie Daughdrill of Brooklyn is one of those area residents who claims to have proof that a black panther roams the southern part of Forrest County.
"He has a photo of a black feline walking across his food plot that he took with his game camera.
"'I know probably less than a quarter mile from there, my wife’s niece was coming home from work six years ago. She saw something big and black cross the road and she came in and told us "I saw a black panther cross the road,"' Daughdrill said. 'Nobody had seen anything of it for six or seven years until I got the picture on my game camera.'" ...
"'All I'm saying is that it’s big and black and looks like a panther,' he said. 'I never said it was a panther, but I've heard all my life there weren't any in South Mississippi, but people are always hearing them.'"

The posture is intriguing, but it is too far away to distinguish species; without a better photo of the profile, or any way to estimate size, it's impossible to say exactly what it is. It could easily be a large lean feral domestic.

Michigan Serval

A serval was caught roaming around Battle Creek, MI. (And from the image, it's plainly a serval, not a serval hybrid.) It was front-declawed, so obviously got loose from someone (they can be tricky...). (News source.)

More on India's "Bigfoot"

There's an article here (with several embedded on-location videos) on the Mande Barung in Meghalaya, India.

New Fish?

Someone in North Carolina thinks they may have seen an unidentified species of small fish:

"Abe Nail has seen some very strange fish swimming in Phillip’s Creek. Nail said the fish he saw were a bright, scarlet red with white fins, and were about 2 to 2 ¼ inches long.
"Nail said the fish come around for a few weeks in late May and early June.
"Nail thinks the fish may turn this bright red color as part of their mating ritual. He said they turn back to a drab orange after a few days." (News source.)

Given that there are probably quite a few small cyprinids in NC, I'd suspect a little-known species over an unknown species, and you'd probably need a specialist to determine that, but there was a new species of fish described in WV earlier this year, so you never know...

More on "Borneo Bigfoot"

From the news:

"The giant footprints found in a fishing village in Daro are a fake.
"'It's man-made and a hoax,' Sarawak Museum anthropologist Dr Charles Leh said last Saturday while dismissing news reports that the two sets of footprints found in a village in Mukah division were those of 'Bigfoot', an ape-like creature said to be found in North America.
"He said the hoax may be an attempt to attract people to Daro.
"Leh, who is also the assistant director of the museum, based his opinion on an analysis of the published photographs." More at the site.

Cat News

Another "sheep-killing cat" from the UK here...

The controversy continues on whether the "black panther" seen in Ohio is an exotic or just a large feral domestic cat. (News source.)

White Ravens

Noted on another list, there are white ravens on Vancouver Island. (News source.)

Caatinga Woodpecker Rediscovered

The Caatinga Woodpecker (Celeus obrieni) was rediscovered during a recent ornithological survey in the Tocantins region of Central Brazil. "One of Brazil’s long lost birds, known only from a single specimen collected in 1926, has been rediscovered after an absence of 80 years." (News source.)

Big Feet?

Reports from Borneo of 47 inch long footprints... (News source.)

Rare Color Morph Filmed

An ocelot (spotted) morph of the Asiatic golden cat has been photographed in Bhutan. (News source.) This is the first photograph of this morph in the wild.

Big Snake or Not?

From the Baldwin (Georgia) Bulletin:

"The Baldwin Bulletin recently filed a story about a large python snake that had been spotted on Lake Sinclair.
"In the week that followed, The Baldwin Bulletin sold out at nearly every rack and the newspaper’s phone lines lit up.
"So, have there been any more sightings?
"'No. We haven’t heard anything more. It’s actually been a full month since we’ve received a call,' said Corp. Lynn Stanford with the Georgia Department of Resources. 'I think that the snake either succumbed to its surroundings or its owner may have found it.'
"The DNR received roughly five phone calls from homeowners near the Twin Bridges and Haslam’s Marina side of Lake Sinclair during the first week of May. Witnesses said that the snake was between 6–8 feet long. The calls then suddenly stopped and no more reports have been received."

Hard to say without having seen the original published description, but if the length is the primary characteristic, it's possible that it was an exaggerated misidentification of a native watersnake.

OH: Black Cat

This news article notes a sighting of a black feline. (Online article is truncated and another article jumbled at end.)

Another on Selbyville

I'm not sure why, but there's another article on the Selbyville Swamp Monster hoax here.

Indiana Cougar Sighting

"On Monday a Bedford resident told the Lawrence County Police Department he saw a mountain lion near U.S. 50." (News source.)

Javan Rhinos Filmed

WWF Malaysia camera traps captured a rhino and calf on film; the mother attacked the camera, despite it being IR, which is interesting... Video clip and details here.

NOAA Says Seal Extinct

A review by NOAA says that the Caribbean monk seal is extinct, with no confirmation over the last 50 years. (News source.)

OH: Cat Sightings

A big cat has been reported in the Lima area. (News source.)

Jamaica: Scott Town Monster is Back

An odd hairy quadruped is upsetting residents of Scott Town, Jamaica, again. (News source.)

Classic Cryptofiction

Now available: Beyond the Great South Wall, by Frank Savile. This is a classic romantic-adventure novel involving mysterious clues to an ancient culture that lead to the frozen south (and a prehistoric horror...) First published in 1901, it has a decent (if corny) storyline, interesting characters, and plenty of escapades.

Ordering info at CoachwhipBooks.com.

Big Snake in the UAE?

An unusual snake photo was published in the GulfNews, with the following details:

"Ras Al Khaimah: Municipality engineers on a helicopter assignment on Tuesday pictured a snake believed to be one of the longest found in the mountains of Al Rams area.
"The team of engineers were on an assignment for planning and surveying the remote areas when they spotted the snake.
"A team member said they asked the helicopter pilot to fly lower and used a telephoto lens to take the picture. They said the snake was half inside a burrow and what they could see was several metres long.
"The engineers showed the pictures to their colleagues at the reptile section in the municipality, where the officials said had never encountered such a long snake in the UAE or the region."

Now, the photograph (shown) could be better. Only the body is shown, not the head. From the pattern and body size, though, we can see that it is a variant of the longest snake known in the UAE, Psammophis schokari. A similar pattern can be seen here. This species is common throughout North Africa and the Middle East, and is found in several different morphs. It reaches a bit over 5 feet in length. "Several meters" as reported in this news item may be exaggeration, or perhaps a larger-than-recognized individual, but we're not talking about a monster snake here.

Chimps Catch Human Virus

Chimpanzees at Mahale Mountains National Park (Tanzania) are suffering from a respiratory disease that is likely a variant of a human paramyxovirus. The apes are "human-habituated," and may have caught the virus from scientists or tourists. (News source.)

Big Rodent Downsized

The fossil rodent Josephoartigasia monesi was originally speculate to have weighed as much as 2584 kg, but "re-estimation of J. monesi's body mass with a more complete analysis suggests it may have weighed as little as 350 kg." (News source.)

Yeti Sketch

A British artist visiting Bhutan used local folklore and sightings to sketch a representation of the Migoi (local term for Yeti). She was also shown an alleged yeti scalp that was kept as a holy relic. (News source.)

Burroughs on Varmint Stories

"Other animal sounds at night are the voices of the owls and whip-poor-wills. One night I heard a strange whistling, shrill and high-pitched, that I couldn't account for. I rather suspect it was made by a coon, but I'm not sure.
"A story circulated at one time that we had a strange varmint there in the woods. People said that the creature had killed a horse in one place, fought with dogs in another, and maimed a calf in a third. It was the talk of all the region for ten days or two weeks, and many persons really believed that some animal which had escaped from a menagerie was roaming about. The woods were avoided by the timid, but there was nothing to the yarn. People seem to have a hunger for that sort of thing, and to crave it as a sauce for the prose of their daily events. So the story grows wonderfully when it once gets started."

John Burroughs, from John Burroughs Talks: His Reminiscences and Comments (1922)