Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 5th, 2005
Ancient Chinese Mongolians tell of monsters in Lake Kanasi. Twenty years ago, the first modern wave of sightings of the Lake Kanasi Monster occurred. Today, this Chinese cryptid is well known throughout Asia, and rapidly gaining recognition in the West.
Reporter Audra Ang, writing in a breaking Associated Press dispatch, notes: "They have come by the tens of thousands over the years — skeptical scientists, curious tourists — answering the lure of the mysterious Kanasi Huguai, China’s very own version of the Loch Ness Monster….In today’s society, myth-making and chasing are a big business."
Ang reflects on this recent trend: "Reports of a Chinese ‘Bigfoot’ have been picked up by the official Xinhua News Agency, while tourists have searched for the Xiao Yeren, small wild men.
At Lake Kanasi, encoutners have occurred to respected eyewitnesses. Yuan Guoying, 66, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Environmental Protection, described how he saw giant monsters in the lake in 1980: "They looked like tadpoles coming up for breath. Their eyes were huge. Their mouths were gaping."
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/GREG BAKER
Yuan Guoying, right, looks over Lake Kanasi, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious creatures that have been spotted in the waters.
Ang writes of these monsters, which may be giant fish: "After weeks of study, Yuan and his team discovered dozens of huge red fish, each 30-50 feet long and weighing more than four tons, living in the lake. In 1989, scientists concluded that the fish — a type of giant, freshwater salmon that thrives in frigid, deep, waters — were in all likelihood the monsters."
But is this the end of it? There are doubts. After all, the biggest Taimen salmon captured is merely 12 feet long and weighs 220 pounds, while the most recent expeditions have only caught salmon up to four feet long. Is there an uncaptured cryptid in Lake Kanasi? Some say yes.
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.