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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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Thursday, February 19, 2009

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.

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