January 8, 2013

A Karl Shuker Q&A

220px-Dr_Karl_P._N._Shuker_and_Smilodon_Skull

Over at the blog of the Center for Fortean Zoology’s Australian office, there’s a new and insightful interview with Dr. Karl Shuker.

You can find the complete Q&A right here, but below are a few extracts from it to give you an idea of it all:

CFZ-OZ: “How did you first get involved in researching strange and mysterious creatures?”

KS: “I’d always been interested in the more unusual animals as opposed to the familiar ones, so when I was bought a copy of Bernard Heuvelmans’s book On the Track of Unknown Animals as an early teenager by my mother, it sparked what has become an enduring, life-long interest in cryptozoology.”

CFZ-OZ: “What were some of the early influences in your life?”

KS: “Heuvelmans, definitely, also my mother, whose own interest in animals and nature immeasurably encouraged and directed my own.”

CFZ-OZ: “What creatures particularly interest you?”

KS: “Even with cryptozoology, I prefer the lesser-known, less-publicised animals as opposed to the more famous ones, so I have a wide range of interests in this field, including many that until I documented them had not been chronicled within the cryptozoological literature – such as the Scottish earth hound, the Sri Lankan devil bird and horned jackal, a vast diversity of mystery birds, the New Guinea devil pig, and all manner of little-known mystery cats from around the world.”

Nick Redfern About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.

Filed under Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Lair of the Beasts