WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

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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Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Thursday, April 17, 2014

An instant (legal) fur hat! Endangered arctic fox ambushes tourist by jumping on her head and begging for treats at animal park

Not everyone gets away with wearing an arctic fox on their head.
But this woman in Norway had no choice - when the animal leaped up her back, crushed her hood over her eyes and used her head as a vantage point to look for treats.
The scene was captured by wildlife photographer Pål Jakobsen, who offered himself up as bait with two friends as they stepped into the lair of wild foxes and wolves in the world's northernmost animal park.
What does the fox say? Photographer Pal Jakobsen captured the moment an arctic fox, critically endangered within Norway, jumped onto the head of his friend Lene
What does the fox say? Photographer Pal Jakobsen captured the moment an arctic fox, critically endangered within Norway, jumped onto the head of his friend Lene

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BIGFOOT NEWS IN BRIEF



The Bigfoot Field Journal: April 2014 - Blogger
My friend Greg Craddock has been conducting research in his area of the National Park. Check out his blog and his very good video

Bigfoot Evidence: Sonya Zohar Will Be Doing an Interview with Todd Standing and Dr. Jeff ...
Episode 3 of Bigfoot North Radio on the Voice America network starts tonight at 5pm. The link to the show is below: Show airs Wednesdays at 5pm

Bigfoot descended from Homo erectus, says researcher
An Australian cryptozoologist has claimed Bigfoot – the alleged mysterious ape-like creature that allegedly roams the northwest of the United States ...

Bigfoot Evidence: Did you know there was a clip shot in Kentucky...
Bestselling author John Davidson is promoting a new book, "Sasquatch, Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Big Foot For Kids -- Amazing Animal Books For ...

Bigfoot Evidence: Todd Standing's "Bigfoot" Photograph Could Be Legit After All, If You Believe His ...
Bigfoot Evidence Shawn
Remember the supposed "photoshopped" image of Todd Standing's Bigfoot? The one where two photographs show a face with a tree branch ...

Who is the Yeovil cat shaver? Mystery as distressed feline is attacked - Somerset Local News
(Today) - A mystery cat-shaver has struck again, this time targeting a family pet on a housing estate in broad daylight.Tiggy, the beloved pet of Mrs 

FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES


What has Corinna's column of fortean bird news got to do with Cryptozoology?

Well, everything actually!

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out-of-place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. 




TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. 

There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we are publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. 

The worldwide mystery cat phenomenon (or group of phenomena, if we are to be more accurate) is not JUST about cryptozoology. At its most basic level it is about the relationship between our species and various species of larger cat. That is why sometimes you will read stories here that appear to have nothing to do with cryptozoology but have everything to do with human/big cat interaction. As committed Forteans, we believe that until we understand the nature of these interactions, we have no hope of understanding the truth that we are seeking. 

  • NEWSLINK: Breakthrough DNA study could slow big ca...
  • US SIGHTINGS: Mountain Lion's Attack at Palm Sprin...

  • NEWSLINK: Tiger Escapes from Cage, Mauls Worker - ...
  • THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN BARKS AT THE MOON

    The Gonzo Daily - Thursday
     
    The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the April episode of OTT has singularly failed to arrive. This is down to all sorts of things, but especially the availability of my guest co-presenter, who (being 11) has her scheduled fairly jam packed. All things being equal we will finish it this afternoon and you will all be able to watch it soon. Paul Rogers, the bloke from Free and (less impressively, as far as I am concerned) Bad Company and (completely unimpressively a Queen reunion album a few years ago) has a rather nifty new album of soul standards out. I think it is really rather good, and the old bugger (65 this year) still has one of the best rock voices of all time.
     
     
    Jack Bruce says Cream tour cancellation was down to Ginger Baker
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/04/jack-bruce-says-cream-tour-cancellation.html
     
     
     
    GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Keith Christmas - Travelling down
    http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2014/04/gonzo-track-of-day-keith-christmas.html
     
     
    The new issue of Gonzo Weekly is out now. It features - amongst other things - Julian Lennon, Clepsydra, Michael Des Barres, Sex Gang Children, Auburn, The Dalai lama, Keith Levene, The Psychedelic Warlords, Goldfrapp, Barbara Dickson, Auburn and the Dalai Lama, and more news, reviews, views, interviews and Gilbert's potoroos (OK, no ground dwelling marsupials that look like pointy nosed guinea pigs, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
     
     
    But I have an update for you all: The cover story is about the triumphant return of Swiss prog band Clepsydra last weekend. But look what I have found: If you look on YouTube there is actually some footage of last weekend's gig. 
     
     
    These issues (and the current one) can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
     
    To make sure that you don't miss your copy of future issues make an old hippy a happy chappy and subscribe
    http://eepurl.com/r-VTD
     
    *  The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at  jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...

    *  The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
     
    * We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!

    *  Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 54 who - together with an orange kitten named after a song by Frank Zappa puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange kitten?

    KEW GARDENS UNDER THREAT

    Globally important conservation and science under threat at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew due to UK Government cuts - £5M deficit will lead to loss of over 120 posts

    By Julie Flanagan
    London
    Globally important conservation and science under threat at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew due to government cuts - £5M deficit will lead to loss of over 120 posts
    The UK Government need to urgently reverse the existing cuts to Kew’s annual operating grant in aid funding, and to cancel the proposed and any further future cuts.
    The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with sites at Kew Gardens, London and Wakehurst Place, Sussex is a world-leader in conservation and botanical science, with over 250 years of historical excellence in these fields.
    Never before has Kew faced such a significant threat to its future. It now needs your help to ensure its globally-important plant and fungal collections can continue to be used to support plant and fungal science and conservation around the world.
    In 1983, 90 per cent of Kew’s funding came from the UK Government as grant in aid. The current amount has dropped to below 40 per cent as of this year. Funding was reduced by £0.9M in 2009-10, £1M in 2010-11, and by an extra £0.5M year-on-year thereafter (see here). 
    Kew has now been told to expect further cuts of at least another £1.5M before the end of 2016.
    Under the 1983 National Heritage Act, the UK Government committed to ensure that Kew is adequately resourced to fulfil its statutory obligations, which include: research; providing advice and education; plant-related services including quarantine; caring for world-renowned scientific collections, as national reference collections available for study; and as a resource for the public to gain knowledge and enjoy. The UK Government is no longer fulfilling its role to allow Kew to meet these obligations.
    Kew has been dramatically increasing income from non-government funding streams through the work of their partner charity Kew Foundation, and via commercially-generated income, consultancy work, and research funding. Although there are plans to extend these efforts, they are no longer able to keep up with the rate of cuts in government funding and many areas of Kew’s work are not easily resourced externally.
    Due to the cuts, Kew has announced that with a £5M deficit for this year, over 120 posts will be axed. The majority of posts will be lost in the areas of science and public engagement (report here.) In specialist careers measured in decades of experience, Kew will lose dedicated, expert staff, and whole areas of work are likely to be halted.
    As Sir David Attenborough was recently quoted as saying:
    "Kew has an absolutely crucial role in looking after our botanical heritage and our botanical future. The important thing to remember is that it is the premiere botanical gardens in the world scientifically. People who think it is just a place to go to look at pretty flowers and flower beds are mistaking the importance of Kew Gardens. The Seed Bank is of world importance and it should be supported by the Government like a proper institution or university and the continuing idea that Kew Gardens is merely a playground and that you just put up the prices to look after it is a misguided assessment of the value of Kew. The Government and the scientific departments should recognise that and support it properly." 
    Please show your support for Kew, and their continuing work for future generations, by signing this petition, and please encourage others to do the same.

    OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today

    Yesterday’s News Today
    http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/

    On this day in 1937 the Loony Tunes cartoon character Daffy Duck made his first appearance in the cartoon “Porky's Duck Hunt”.
    And now the news:

  • EU blacklist to stop spread of alien species
  • 130 bears to be rescued in China, the largest numb...
  • Wild lynx to be brought back to British countrysid...
  • Endangered skinks collected in NZ for breeding
  • Help a hungry hedgehog this spring with numbers in...
  • Sibling cooperation in earwig families provides cl...
  • CAN COMEDY ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION? - via Herp Dige...
  • T Rex To Reveal Itself At The Smithsonian - via D ...
  • Victorian strangeness: The death of a curious monk...
  • Butterflies have had an early spring into action
  • FACINATING FACT: Mel Blank holds the record for continuous voicing of a cartoon character by their original voice actor for the 52 years he voiced Daffy Duck. Daffy didn't develop a lisp until Blank decided to add it to the character after several years, here's what he sounded like originally:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO_WscoP_Ps