ARE THESE GENUINE RUSSIAN "BIGFOOT" TRACKS?

Wolves Charge Traffic Cop

A traffic cop in Russia had to jump in the car of the motorist he had flagged down when a pack of wild wolves started chasing him on the motorway.
Further details/video footage.

LINDSAY SELBY: The Chuchunaa

Reports from Russia tell of a creature known locally as the Chuchunaa, which is over 2 m (6/7 feet) tall, clad in deerskin and unable to talk, although it does utter a piercing whistle. A man-eater, the Chuchunaa often steals food from settlements. Observers say that the creature has a protruding brow, long matted hair, a full beard, and walks with its hands hanging below its knees. Soviet scientists speculate that the Chuchunaa represents the last surviving remnant of the Siberian paleoasiatic aborigines that retreated to the upper reaches of the Yana and Indigirka rivers. The last reliable sightings were in the 1950s and this animal may now be extinct. (Anonymous; "Yeti or Wild Man in Siberia?" Nature, 271:603, 1978.)

The Chuchunaa are a type of bigfoot said to inhabit Siberia They are usually described as being 6 or 7 feet tall (2 metres), have broad shoulders and come in a variety of colours, some on the same creature. What makes them different from other hairy hominids is they are often reported as wearing animal skins. As Siberia is extremely cold, one shouldn’t be surprised at this. The Chuchunaa is also called other names including Mirygdy, Mulen, Tjutjuna and in one village they named one Mecheny or 'the marked one.' This particular creature had lighter-coloured arms than the rest of its fur. Many have speculated that they are a relic neanderthal group and represent the last surviving remnant of the Siberian paleo-asiatic hominids that retreated to the upper reaches of the Yana and Indigirka rivers.

Their existence has been taken seriously by the authorities. In 1928 the Soviet Union sent out search parties to gather information on them .

In 1933 Professer P. Dravert called upon the government to make hunting of them illegal on the grounds that all people of the U.S.S.R. deserved equal protection

The Soviet News Agency TASS said specialists at the Institute of Language, Literature and History in Soviet Yakutia, northeastern Siberia, have been evaluating testimony of Siberians who claim they encountered the man-like creature called “chuchunaa”. The Soviet historian and ethnographer G. V. Ksenofontov wrote in his book Urankhai Sakhalar: 'The chuchunaa is a human. He feeds on wild deer and eats the meat raw. They say he tears the skin off the wild deer and wears it, just as we do the hide of a fox. He lives in a lair like a bear. His voice is unpleasant, grating and hoarse. He whistles, frightening people and reindeer. Men come across him very rarely and often see him running away… The chuchunaa’s face is black, and it’s hard to make out the nose and the eyes. He can be seen only in summertime. In winter he is not around.”' (In the Footsteps of the Russian Snowman, by Dmitri Bayanov, 1996. Pyramid Publications )

Yakutia, one of the leading newspapers in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) published in May 2004 a report concerning the protection of the natural world in Yakutia. It had the following paragraph:

'The Screaming of Sendushnyj. Mount Kuorat-Khaja lied opposite the fishing village of Chekurovka 2). On a dangerous steep slope lied the ruins of an aeroplane. Some old people claimed that in 1957 hunters from the surrounding villages killed a Chuchunaa, the snowman. It is said that its body was brought on the Lena river to Yakutsk [capital of Yakutia] and disappeared there. The legend has it that Chuchunaa lived in the mountains of Verchojansk. It caught reindeers, the skins of which it wore. It is further said that upon meeting people, the snowman would scream quite terribly. In the Tundra, this snowman was named Sendushnyj, after ‘sendukha’, an old name of Tundra. Although this legend defeated any commonsense, it refused to die. On the other side of the mountain range, in the areas of Najba 3), some reported of a highly discreet creature that was called Ikki-Mterlljakh, literally meaning ‘two meters tall’. It is claimed that those who were hunting, fishing and/or collecting firewood along the riverbank saw the snowman. It is also reported that as dawn set in, he would enter the village.'

Reuters ran the following report in August 16th 1990:

Soviet KGB border guards were put on a state of maximum alert after a night patrol sighted a creature 2 meters tall with brilliant eyes. The beast, which surprised the guards of the Red Flag border post in the Soviet Far East, resembled the mythical Abominable Snowman, or Yeti. Soon afterwards it was seen trying to climb up to a roof, but eventually retreated to the forest.

Russian researcher Alexei Sitnikov and his team reported a sighting that took place in 1993, while on their way to Lake Tonee. The scientists had been planning to study the area for several years, but had been unable to do so because of a lack of resources and the state of the Russian economy. Their expedition was to search for proof of the possible habitation of a gigantic serpent/ snake in the region. They had barely begun their trek when they encountered a creature known to the locals as "snow man." They were crossing the river on a raft, and on the other bank of the river noticed a man who was covered with reddish fur. The creature turned around, made a sound resembling grunts, and then disappeared in the thicket. Sitnikov said that the creature was only 10 feet (3 metres) away when they saw it, and it was plainly visible. The creature was about 7 feet (2 metres) tall with dark fur but not thick. Its head was somewhat triangular in shape, widening toward its base. It had small eyes, wide nostrils, and a slit in place of a mouth. The neck was not visible and it looked as if the head was placed on wide shoulders.

In December 2002 the Russian newspaper Yakutsk Vechernij (Evening Yakutsk) printed a report of the journey of two journalists on the track of a strange animal. In a village in the Verkhoyansk region, Barylas district, an unknown animal had been caught in a wolf-trap in the middle of March 2002. It was already dead when discovered and described as "like a primate" about the size like a large dog. The whole body, apart from feet and face, was covered in fur. It had a long tail. There are three versions about what happened with the corpse: the teacher Jakob Potapov from the neighboring settlement Borulakh said that the body had been taken to the capital Yakutsk; others claimed that the animal had been torn to pieces by dogs; another version was that "frightened people" had buried the corpse together with the trap. The chief of the Sartan town concil, Sergej Slepzov, talked about another similar case 6 months earlier. A young man, Albert Slepzov, had found a dead unknown animal similar to an ape. It was suggested that it could be a Chuchunaa. Some local people who had seen the dead animal called it Aabasi kiila. The reporter Elena Tikhonova and the photographer Michael Kotschetov contacted the relatives of Albert Slepzov in the settlement Badagaj. They confirmed that Slepzov had found a strange animal but were unable to say what happened with the corpse.

This is just a selection of reports of the creature. So once again only eyewitness testimonies and no physical evidence. Some of the eyewitnesses were scientists and local people who would recognise a known animal, you would think. There are a few scientists that believe a relic neanderthal group or groups exist today in remote regions. The fact that this creature wears skins could be an indication of this. Others dispute the theory on the grounds that neanderthals were only at their greatest height 5 and a half feet tall (1.7 metres) and not as tall as the Chuchunaa are reported to be. This of course does not take into account that the creatures may have evolved over the last 10,000 years or interbred with humans and grown taller. If the financial position changes in Russia, more expeditions may be funded, one can only hope. In such a remote region, one would need to be well funded and prepared to be able to stay for long periods of time, to collect testimonies and if possible, physical evidence.

ANASTASIA BARKED IN VAIN

A pack of wild dogs in Russia have turned green amid concerns they have been exposed to toxic waste. The animals, thought to be former guard dogs, have long been known to scavenge for food at a tip on the outskirts of the city of Yekaterinburg in central Russia. But about 20 of the strays have suddenly turned a bizarre shade of green.

Read on...

RICHARD FREEMAN: NEWS FROM RUSSIA

Over the Weird Weekend our old friend Dr Lars Thomas brought us news of the samples that his colleagues had been analysing. We brought back a shard of thick human-looking skull and some dung from our almasty expedition in the Russian Caucasus. The dung turned out to be mountain goat mixed with hedgehog! The skull was that of a modern human. It was unusually thick but still within excepted parameters.

Grigory Panchenko recently e-mailed me with news of his ongoing cryptozoological work.

“Our group (I, Anatoly and Alexey) this summer had organized [sic] a small "cryptoarachnological" expedition trying to obtain an information about an existing in the Ukraine scorpion-like creatures. There was only one very unpleasant "success": one day Anatoly was stinged by some arachnida or insect (he had not seen it in the grass, but it was small creature: arthropoda, not a snake). Now he is OK but during 2 days his ankle was swelled as a log. There is almost no such "official" venomous arthropoda in the Ukraine! Only 2 "official" candidates: tarantula and hornet (but any of them - very unlikely or even impossible). Maybe there really was a scorpion?

In the end of this month we two (Anatoly and I) will try to go to this place once more for 2 - 3 days.

In September I shall go to Crimea (as a year before, after our Caucasian expedition) for 10 - 12 days. There is some information about hominoid and large boa-like snake.”

I had asked about a rare book in the Moscow library about the almasty and the probability of doing a translation. He answered…

“To translate this giant and very complex book, especially with modern commentaries (they are necessary: some parts of the book are old-fashioned now) is a HUGE work. But maybe it (or part of it) is made now by D. Bayanow or M. Trahtengertc. I shall ask them is it so.”

I am very interested in returning to Russia with Grigory for a second almasty expedition, possibly next year.

“Yes I'll be ready. There are two main (more perspective) places: Baksan valley in Balkaria and some minor canyons in the head of Malka valley in Kabarda (summer) and the other minor canyons near Malka (winter). In any interesting for us parts of Balkaria during the winter is too unsafe but Kabarda is lower and there is not so many snow avalanches.”

FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF MYSTERY (2009)

At last the new feature-length documentary from CFZtv directed by Jonathan Downes and produced by Richard Freeman.

In the summer of 2008, five British explorers from the UK based Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ], the world's largest mystery animal research group, fly to the mountains of southern Russia, just weeks before the region erupts into war..

They are searching for the almasty, a semi-mythical apeman, that the team believe could be man's closest relative; an evolved descendant of Homo erectus. Along the way they have many adventures, and several members of the team are nearly killed on more than one occasion.

With music by Gogol Bordello and Jonathan Downes. We wrote to Gogol Bordello's management, and were overjoyed when they wrote back saying that we could use the music as long as the movie was "non-commercial". Well, it is completely non-commercial, and like every other film from CFZtv, it is out there purely because this is a good thing to do. However it is mildly amusing to note that Gogol Bordello are doing two films this year - one with Madonna, and the other with the CFZ!

RICHARD FREEMAN AT 2008 UNCONVENTION

OUR FIRST GRANT MUSEUM APPEARANCE LAST MAY

"We really enjoyed the film of your lecture at the Grant Museum" writes Lindsey and Yvonne from Bolton. "But you appeared there a year ago, and we were in the audience on that occasion. Was that ever filmed?"

Indeed it was...

Richard and Jon on stage at the Grant Museum of Zoology on Thursday 19th

RICHARD FREEMAN: ON THE TRACK OF THE SIBERIAN SNOWMAN

Just last summer the Centre for Fortean Zoology embarked on an expedition to the Caucasus Mountains of Western Russia in search of the Almasty, a relic hominid possibly closely related to Homo erectus. We were amazed at how many sightings of these creatures there were. Some were by well-respected scientists. We may have come within 12 feet of seeing an almasty, and we brought back a number of biological samples including fragments of a skull that is under analysis at Copenhagen University.

Now another expedition is set to begin a relic hominid search on the other side of Russia, deep in the Siberian wastes. A team from the University of Kemerovo will visit the Azzaskoy Caves 60 km from Tashtagol, in an uninhabited area.

The caves have long been thought to be the lair of these creatures whom he local folk refer to as ‘The Black People’. The creatures are said to be up to 2 meters tall, upright walking and covered in black fur. Footprints were found in October last year. They were found and photographed by a hunter, Viktor Kanayev, from the Yamal peninsula, inside the Arctic Circle. He made his discovery just 10-12 kilometers from Salekhard, the capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous region. “Those trails do not match any animal inhabiting the tundra of the Yamal peninsula,” he said.

Siberia is one of the most poorly explored regions of the world. In the CFZ 2003 Yearbook I wrote a lengthy article on the cryptozoology of Siberia, that included surviving mammoths, lake monsters, giant snakes, giant bears and relic hominids. If relic hominids can survive anywhere then it’s here. Siberia is twice the size of Australia and has a tiny human population. Relic hominids are widely reported in Siberia. In some parts they are known as ‘Chuchunaa’ that translates ‘outcast’.

Our own researches in Russia built up a picture of a 6-7 foot hominid with primitive ape-like tool use (rocks and clubs used as weapons), and no cloths or fire. It lives alone or in small family groups. It is immensely strong and agile. The body has a covering of short hair that can be black, brown or gray. It has a thick brow ridge, powerful jaws, a flat nose, virtually no chin and a short neck. It is not aggressive unless provoked and will approach human dwellings on occasion.

WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW WHICH NEVER ENDS...

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/zoology/whats-on/index.html

Richard and I are in London next thursday doing another gig at the Grant Museum.

Fresh from searching Southern Russia for the Almasty – a creature believed to be a relict descendent of Homo erectus – scientists from the Centre for Fortean Zoology return for another captivating event at the Grant Museum. The Centre’s Director Jon Downes and Zoological Director Richard Freeman, will describe this recent trip – launched at the Museum last year – and report the evidence they found for the mystery hominid and eye-witness accounts they recorded.Having travelled the world in search of “hidden creatures” including Mexican goat-suckers, the African dragon Ninki-nanka, and more familiar beasts like Nessie, Richard and Jon will give a guide to planning such voyages; how to choose a study species, get funding, what and who to take along, who to talk to when you get there and what to do when you get home. Following the talk, join us for a free glass of wine in a private view of the Museum.

What's more Corinna and Max will be there, as will various other CFZ bods. So don't be square be there. And afterwards you can buy me a beer...

GLEN VAUDREY: Steller's sea cow

There would be no mistaking an adult Steller’s sea cow, weighing in at 8 tons and measuring up to 28 feet in length. The largest member of the order Sirenia was a true monster but only in size, for this was a gentle herbivorous giant. All had been going well for the 2000 odd sea cows that could be found eating kelp in the shallow waters around the isles of Bering and Cooper in the Commander Island chain, that was until 1741. It’s funny to think that had pre-packed ready-to-eat meals been available and ships’ navigation a bit better then the story of the sea cow might have had a happier ending.

As it turned out in the winter of 1741 Vitus Bering’s ship St Peter was wrecked and the crew found themselves stranded upon the very same islands that the sea cows swam around. It is doubly unfortunate that not only was the sea cow docile and easy to approach but it was by all accounts rather tasty. From its first appearance on the menu in 1742 it would only take another twenty-six years for the animal to be eaten into extinction, or at least that’s the official line.

You see reported sightings of these great herbivores continued long after their supposed extinction in 1768. The first wave of sightings was reported in the 1780s but unfortunately for the sea cow’s survival prospects the report came from hunters who had just killed them.

Still there was better luck with the next sighting in 1854 when two locals saw a sea cow and appeared to have successfully fought the urge to eat it. Then it all went a bit quiet on the sightings for nearly a hundred years, that was until the 1950s when a harpooner claimed that sea cows still visited the Bering Isles each July, and it would be in July 1962 that the crew of the whaling ship Buran reported a sighting of six sea cows happily feeding in a lagoon near Cape Navarin, Siberia.

The final sighting in the area would be made in 1976 when a fisherman going by the name of Ivan Chechulin claimed that he had not only seen a sea cow but had actually been able to get close enough to touch the animal.

So the question has to be asked, do the waters off Cape Navarin still play host to Steller’s sea cow?

PRESS RELEASE: Do Giant Snakes still crawl the earth?

For Immediate Release
2009-02-08

DO GIANT SNAKES STILL CRAWL THE EARTH?

The scientific world was rock recently when the remains of eight gigantic snakes were unearthed in a Columbian quarry. Measuring 43 feet, Titanoboa cerrejonensis was among the largest fossil snakes ever to have been uncovered. You might think such monsters must surely be restricted to the dim, primordial past – but you would be wrong, say a group of Devon-based scientists.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the world’s only full-time scientific organization dedicated to the investigation of anomalous or undiscovered species of animal. The group has tracked gigantic serpents all across the globe.

Zoologial director Richard Freeman, a reptile specialist, says:

"Stories of monstrous snakes appear in most cultures, but there may be much more than ancient legend in these tales. In the year 2000, I explored the rivers, caves and jungles of Thailand. I interviwed a number of witnesses who claimed to have seen a huge snake, known as a naga. The animal lived in water and bore an erectile crest on its head. In Sumatra the tribespeople spoke of encountering vast horned snakes in the deep jungle.

“Such creatures are not restricted to the tropics. Whilst in the Caucausus mountains of Russia, we were told of a 33-foot-long species of snake that inhabited marshy areas of the former Soviet Union."

However the most promising accounts come from South America, says Richard.

"In 2007 we travelled to Guyana on the track of the giant anaconda. Our guide, Damon Corrie, was an Arawak Indian chief. He told us of a titanic anaconda inhabiting a remote lake. It was so huge that he hunters who saw it fled in terror. They pointed out a 30-foot tree to him and said the snake was far larger. The anaconda in question would have been in the region of 40 feet!

"Frustratingly, due to adverse weather conditions, we could not reach the lake where the giant snake dwelt. More recently, very large anaconda have been reported closer to Damon's village in the grasslands of Guyana."

The CFZ is currently looking for sponsorship, so that Richard can lead an expedition to return to Guyana and travel to the lake in question.

"We know where the lake is, so we will not have to search too wide an area. The creature is a 'sitting duck'. We hope to head out this spring or summer, funding permitting," he says.

"Because anacondas give birth to live young, rather than laying eggs, they have severed their last link with land. Very big ones spend most of their time buoyed up in the water."

But such large snakes can prove dangerous. As recently as the late 1990s, an anaconda thought to be 45 feet long devoured Daniel Menezes in Soa Paulo Brazil as his father Joao looked on helplessly.

Pictures are available. For further details, or to arrange an interview with Richard please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (4 and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.

* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.

* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.

* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.

* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.

* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.

* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.

* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.

* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.

* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

GIANT TRIOPS?

The following photographs surfaced some months ago. The story accompanying them which was printed on several Russian websites was:

"Look what they have found in Chelyabinsk city. The story is that there was a construction site with a deep foundation ditch. They have touched some underground river in that place so the water in the ditch didn’t get away so it stayed there full of water. Then some workers a few months later spotted some movement in this water, they threw some pieces of their lunch in the trench which caused a big activity inside. They were puzzled who is there?

And caught one thing up then in big panic stepped away cause it tried to bite them so they had to kill it with some equipment and here are the remains of it. It was around 5 feet length. Nobody of them got any idea of what’s that"

We have been puzzled to for several months. Today, however, we received this email from Liam Proven:

"Reminds me of a horseshoe crab, although I thought those were exclusively marine.

It's also reminiscent of a Triops, but it looks/way/ too big - although Notostracha fit the bill, inasmuch as flooding a long-dry ditch might cause hatching and rapid growth.For all that they claim it was 5' in length, which I find implausible,it looks like someone whacked it with a drain cover and those are fairly large. Perhaps they have confused 5' with 5"? Even so, big for a Triops..."

Well, as far as I am aware, Liam, horseshoe crabs are exclusively marine creatures and the animal pictured does look somewhat like a triops or tadpole shrimp, These are peculiar crustaceans which are found in every continent of the globe except Antarctica.

They are very ancient, and - indeed - Triops cancriformis first appeared around 220 million years ago, and may be the "oldest living animal species on earth."

But all known triops species are tiny, and the largest (from memory a North African species) is only a few inches long. Unless this series of photographs (and the reason we have chosen to revisit this case from 2008 now, is that the website to which Liam directed us had more pictures than we had seen before) is of an extremely small manhole cover, or has been faked, then it shows a bloody big triops.

Over to you guys/ What do you think?