Today’s guest is Dr Karl Shuker. Dr Shuker is one of the most well known and respected cryptozoologists and Forteans alive today and has recently added another string to his bow with the publication this Christmas of his poetry book Star Steeds and Other Dreams.
So, Dr Karl Shuker, here are your 5 Questions on… Cryptozoology:
1) How did you first become interested in cryptozoology?
When I was given a copy of Dr Bernard Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals as a present when I was about 12-14 years old. I'd always been interested in unusual and mythological animals, but after reading this book I was totally hooked!
2) Have you ever personally seen a cryptid or secondary evidence of a cryptid, if so can you please describe your encounter?
In 2006 I visited the island bird sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi off Auckland, New Zealand, home to many endangered bird species, including the famous takahe, once believed extinct but rediscovered 50 years later, and which I was fortunate enough to see. Moreover, I also saw two large quails, which at the time I simply assumed were bigger-than-usual Australian quails, which had been introduced to New Zealand as its own bigger native quail had become extinct in the 19th Century. However, months later I was stunned to learn that scientists were planning to investigate the quails on Tiritiri as they suspected that these unusually large birds may actually be surviving specimens of the supposedly long-extinct New Zealand quail! So I might well have seen a species currently classed as extinct!
3) Which cryptids do you think are the most likely to be scientifically discovered and described some day, and why?
I think that the orang pendek and the thylacine are among the likeliest, because of the remarkable evidence collected by Adam Davies, the CFZ and others for the orang pendek indicating that it is a species separate from all known species to date, and because of the many excellent, reliable sightings of thylacine-like beasts made over the years, even by game wardens.
4) Which cryptids do you think are the least likely to exist?
I am not happy with some of the categories of sea serpent formulated by Heuvelmans, such as the many-finned sea serpent being an armoured archaeocete and the long-neck being a tail-less giant seal.
5) If you had to pick your favourite cryptozoological book (not including books you may have written yourself) what would you choose?
It would have to be the book that started it all for me - Dr Bernard Heuvelmans's On the Track of Unknown Animals, which I've read countless times but still enjoy as much as ever.