Seen a yeti? Tell a cryptozoologist

Seen the Loch Ness monster but think nobody will believe you? A cryptozoologist would be delighted to hear all about your experience.

Cryptozoology, literally the science of hidden animals, is the study of and search for animals — cryptids — that fall outside taxonomic records through a lack of empirical evidence but for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, legends or undocumented sightings.

Most people have heard of Nessie, Bigfoot and the yeti, but cryptozoologists are also seeking evidence for more obscure creatures such as the African mokele-mbembe, a possible living dinosaur.

Other cryptids include aquatic megaserpents such as Ogopogo, said to inhabit Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, and bipedal hirsute hominids or hominoids such as the yiren of China or the nguoi rung of Vietnam.

Cryptozoologists are sensitive about their scientific credentials. The British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, for example, points out:  “We do not subscribe in any way, shape or form to any ludicrous paranormal, occultic or supernatural viewpoints.”

The club’s fieldwork in 2006 included investigations into reports of lake- and sea-dwelling megaserpents in Canada and the British Isles, as well as Sasquatch, giant salamanders, out-of-place felines, unknown cameloids and possible surviving giant sloths in British Columbia.

Critics argue that megafauna cryptids are unlikely to exist undetected in sufficient numbers to maintain a breeding population, and are unlikely to be able to survive in their reported habitats due to issues of climate and food supply.

Objections include unreliable witness accounts, lack of scientific and physical evidence, and over-reliance on confirmation rather than refutation. But the cryptozoologists point out that, historically, many stories of fantastic animals initially dismissed as superstition were later proven to exist. Today there is no doubt that the platypus, giant squid and Komodo dragon are flesh and blood.

And the discovery of the coelacanth and megamouth shark are examples of how deep-sea animals can remain undetected by scientists for years. The coelacanth was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years until a specimen was found in a fishing net off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Locals had used its scales as sandpaper for years.