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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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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

GLEN VAUDREY: Introducing the Kipumbubu

What a spread of darts I threw. The third one landed just in Tanzania; yet another African country, this time on the east of the continent. It seems my first three crypto darts were a little low; still, I did well to miss the oceans. So what mystery animal is to be found in Tanzania? Well, one contender has to be the Kipumbubu.

While hippopotamus may lay claim to be one of the most deadly creatures to occupy the waters of the African continent, the crocodile shouldn’t be forgotten. Each year around three hundred people are killed by the Nile crocodile,but there is a mystery crocodile that also has a taste for human flesh, and that is the Kipumbubu. Supposedly it manages to munch six unlucky people a year.

So what sets the Kipumbubu apart from the Nile crocodile? Well, its behaviour for a start. The Kipumbubu doesn’t just lurk in the water; it actively goes hunting at night for people on river boats. It’s said that it is fully capable of getting onto the rim of a boat and grabbing passengers in its mighty crushing jaws.

So could the Kipumbubu just be a Nile crocodile? Well, maybe, but it appears that the Kipumbubu has a special talent that the Nile beast lacks and that is the ability to jump out of the water and onto boats. Jumpin’ crocodiles, as they might have said in a 1960s episode of Batman.

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