Lion Vanishes Into Misquotation Valley
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 23rd, 2008
Cryptozoology author Matt Bille, who found himself in the middle of a firestorm of “African lion” sightings in his hometown, was interviewed by the local media.
On July 22, 2008, The Colorado Springs Gazette published an article about the Colorado Springs “lion.” In it they quoted Matt Bille.
Or, should I say, misquoted him? Bille has emailed me that he “did not say the last half of the last sentence about making no rational sense.”
Wildlife officials had a few things to say about the misquotations in the unfolding of this story too.
Here is the article Bille sends along:
Imagination – or an animal – is on the loose
July 22, 2008 – 4:03PM
by Brian Hughes The Gazette
An African lion, or some other large feline predator, is loose east of Colorado Springs. Or maybe the only thing that’s loose is tongues and what’s roaming the plains is a lot of rumors and conspiracy theories.Either way, last week’s massive daylong search for what was reported to be an escaped lion near Calhan could be the birth of a local Bigfoot-style legend.
Residents toted six-shooters and rode the range ready to lasso the beast, while police helicopters circled overhead trying to spot it.
They found nothing, except a paw print that may or may not have been positively identified as that of an African lion.
The only proof of its existence is a blurry photograph of a large, maned – or possibly just shaggy – four-legged animal with a long tail looking back over its shoulder as it heads over a rise on the prairie never to be seen again.
But not forgotten.
In the week since, the lines have been drawn between those who want rational explanations and those who say there are things – and beasts – out there which defy explanation.
Wildlife experts, who say they were misquoted in identifying the paw print as an African lion’s, are solidly on the side of the myth busters.
“If there were a lion of that size, it would have been spotted,” said Michael Seraphin, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Sharon Harding-Shaw, who snapped the photo of the creature, is just as sure she saw a lion.
“I know what I saw,” she said. “I’m 100 percent that was a lion.”
Not only was it a lion, she said this week, but she heard it was captured at Big R, an agricultural supply store off U.S. Highway 24 in Peyton.
That rumor’s been spreading; the El Paso County Sheriff ‘s Office has been fielding calls wanting details of how the lion was caught, sheriff ‘s Lt. Lari Sevene said.
Big R manager Ken Bachmann said he didn’t know about any lion prowling the premises: “Believe me, the employees would’ve had a lot more to talk about if that were true.”
Since no lion, or even a stray dog, was found, Seraphin said it’s possible the owner of an illegally kept exotic animal recaptured it and was reluctant to report it.
But the paw print, which convinced some searchers they were hunting a lion, could have been there for days and could have been just about any animal. Seraphin said it had been run over repeatedly by vehicles and was unidentifiable.
Another theory is the lion may have just gone home – to West Virginia, not the nearby big cat sanctuary, which wasn’t missing any of its lions, according to the owner, who helped search.
In October, a hunter reported seeing an African lion in Lewisburg, W.Va. Wildlife officials tried in vain to catch a glimpse of the animal with a video camera, according to the Charleston Daily Mail.
The similarities between the El Paso County lion and West Virginia’s are eerie.
The lion was sighted, then vanished, and there was a nearby animal sanctuary. As with Big Cats of Serenity Springs outside Calhan, the West Virginia haven didn’t have any AWOL lions.
Rich Buhler, who runs TruthOrFiction.com, a Web site devoted to debunking popular myths, said the El Paso County lion could become another Bigfoot – just with a tail and four legs.
“It’s your classic story of a menacing force out of place in suburbia,” he said. “Some of the most energetic rumors are those that appeal to lack of safety. Those are the perfect ingredients of an urban legend.”
On his Web site, it would be designated as unproven, making it fodder for forwarded e-mails and those looking for a juicy ice breaker in conversation.
Matt Bille, a local science author who dabbles in cryptozoology, said he likes the mystery surrounding the El Paso County lion.
He said that if it was a large dog, it mostly likely would have been reported missing by its owner.
Because nothing was found, Bille predicted future sightings.
“It’s a good thing to have an element of mystery,” he said. “It keeps us searching for the undefinable and leads us to discoveries that make no rational sense.”
About Loren Coleman
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.
It is very true that the media no longer is just a reporter of the news, neither are they merely the watchdog press anymore. They now fancy themselves as definers of the truth. Sad to say, but the American people need not only watch their politicians and call for an accounting of their behavior, but we now must also watch the press as well!
Too bad Matt Bille was misquoted, although not really damaging. I’ve enjoyed his 2 books, Rumors of Existence and Shadows of Existence very much. I really hope he’s writing more. Any information on this? Maybe the lion will get a mention.
Buzzard,
Thanks for asking! I do plan to do more books, but it will be a while. The first came out in 1995, the second in 2006, and I envision doing a new book along the same pattern, cataloging discoveries and events in zoology/cryptozoology, about every decade for the rest of my life. I may undertake other projects too, but the “Existence” series is the core of my cryptozoology work.
I also am sorry, Mr. Bille, about the misquotation. The media, I agree, is no longer the watchdog of truth.
I’ll order your books when I can. Looking forward to them, sir.
HOOSIERHUNTER,
To call media the definer of reality is to give media too much credit. Media simply parrots official science. If science thinks something is real the media reports it with seriousness. If science thinks something is unreal the media reports it with ridicule. In countries where science is weak the media will not hesitate to report the paranormal. In the US the media does not have the power to challenge science.
RICHARD888
Not disagreeing with you, friend, but I said “they fancy themselves as definers of the truth”. Not reality. And they do fancy themselves that way from my perspective. Not to get too philosophical here, but I believe truth is absolute. Reality, on the other hand, is subjective. For example, if someone tells me they saw a red truck go through a red light, then truth tells me they have committed a crime by not stopping, Then, if they tell me the truck was a firetruck with lights and a siren going, the reality changes. See what I mean? Other than that I agree with you completely.