On an Elusive Quest…
[From “Press Herald”. 2008]
By Ray Routhier.
Loren Coleman is a leading authority on some diverse topics.
He has a master's degree in clinical social work and has
worked for years as a researcher and consultant in the field of suicide
prevention and school violence, all over the country.
But he also has degrees in anthropology and zoology, and
over the years he's become a national figure in cryptozoology,
the area of documenting new or unknown animals. Cryptozoology
includes the study of legendary mystery creatures like Bigfoot or the
Abominable Snowman, as well as the search for not-yet-documented birds,
reptiles or cats.
Coleman, 60, is a former adjunct professor at the
He lives in
Q: Are there overlaps between your two fields, cryptozoology and suicide prevention?
A: There are research and interview skills that are very
useful in both fields. I think that the whole intriguing part of school
violence and suicide prevention is that suicide is definitely a mystery and yet
there are some patterns and trends and some human involvement in that I need
also to use in my investigation of cryptozoology,
because in cryptozoology it always starts, number
one, with the witness, the eyewitness. So I really come into the field as an
investigative journalist in many ways. I want to know the anthropology of the
situation, or the zoology of the situation, but also I understand that a lot of
people make misidentifications, mistakes. Hoaxing is not that common, but
certainly the human element involved in both understanding suicide as well as
looking at cryptozoological investigations is
paramount for me.
Q:What is
the standard definition of cryptozoology?
A: Cryptozoology is the study of
unknown or hidden animals. Animals yet to be classified as
zoological species. Cryptozoology is really a
method of investigation. During the Victorian era, when people went exploring
wilderness areas, they were practicing cryptozoology.
Back then it was called romantic zoology or romantic natural history. So the
Victorians in the pith helmets going into the deep jungle, they were coming
across new animals, animals not yet accepted by Western science. We still see
that same situation. Most new animals are known by the local people, it's just
that it's never been important for them to know whether or not it's in a
zoological text.
Some of these animals were extinct, and were rediscovered,
such as the whole controversy going on right now with the ivory-billed
woodpecker. In cryptozoology, the big three or four,
the Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster, and then number
four is the sea serpent, those big four got all the
publicity. But in my book "Cryptozoology A to
Z," there are 200 entries of creatures around the world that we're looking
for right now. They can be a small reptile reported in
Q: Do you think the big four, as you call them, maybe give cryptozoology a bad name since they seem so far-fetched?
A: Oh yeah, definitely. In my years of being in the field,
ridicule is certainly a part of the game. I could come out of an academic
meeting (when he was at the
Q: Do you go out in the field much yourself?
A: Well, the last two years you've probably heard about the
Maine Mutant, the creature that was reported in central Maine, which is
(purported to be) a panther-hyena-like creature. I would go out in the field,
and I ended up debunking. People said there was one of them killed on a road in
Turner, and I arrived, looked at the body, looked at the photographs, and it
was a chow dog. The locals said, "We finally killed the Maine
Mutant."
I'm going to
WCSRO,
2008.