Although accounts of their size and appearance vary, they are said to be around 2 to 5 feet in length, with a broad cat-like head and a wide gaping mouth. A number of Central African tribes are said to believe the swamps of the Congo basin are inhabited by an enormous, semi-aquatic creature known as the emela-ntouka. And what’s interesting about that photo is that, according to some, it was an elaborate attempt at revenge. While biologists regularly identify new species, cryptozoologists often focus on creatures from the folkloric record. Wild Child: The Cave Children of Coniston, a pair of feral children who lived in a slate cave and died during a severe winter, are discussed in 'The Woodwose of Cannock Chase' alongside some real or putatively-real examples like Victor of Aveyron and Marie-Angelique Memmie le Blanc.

The famous sighting in Bungay and Blythburg is a particularly famous account of the beast, and images of black sinister dogs have become part of the iconography of the area.Those seeking to trace the connection between the McCloughlin family attic and the “Hereford Twiggywitch” should visit auxluna. The next morning, Jane Greenwood and her sister also saw the monster rise, after which "there was crackling sounds in the treetops for ages".

Bartholomew (2012: 121): "There are no university degrees for cryptozoology, although a few real scientists from a variety of disciplines dabble in the subject, mostly in the field of zoology and biology.Sceptics have explained the sightings as gas bubbles, wind-formed waves, diving birds and floating vegetable mats. Sightings of ahools are often dismissed simply as mistaken glimpses of owls, eagles, and other large birds of prey that inhabit the same rainforests, but some sources claim the creatures do indeed exist, and may even be an isolated and as-yet undiscovered species descended from pterosaurs. Supposedly you can hear its disembodied footsteps in the gravel on the mountain, and when the fog thins, you’ll see a hairy humanoid three times taller than a man. A field guide to the mystery beasts of the British Isles An 'attack' in Sydenham is just the latest sighting of an alien Big Cat on these shores.

Mullis (2021: 185): "Eschewing the rigors of science, cryptozoologists publish for a popular audience rather than for experts resulting in the practice itself frequently being derided as a pseudoscience. As a field, cryptozoology originates from the works of Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian zoologist, and Ivan T. As Benjamin Radford, deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine, told Live Science, “The idea of a wild, man-like 'other' creature co-existing with us but just beyond our understanding is heavily rooted in mythology.In a 2011 foreword for The American Biology Teacher, then National Association of Biology Teachers president Dan Ward uses cryptozoology as an example of "technological pseudoscience" that may confuse students about the scientific method. From Bigfoot to the Beast of Bodmin Moor, the UK sets the scene for many spooky stories about mythological creatures and unexplained sightings.