Dr KARL SHUKER

Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. He is the author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993; greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), Dragons: A Natural History (1995), In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), The Unexplained (1996), From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings (1997), Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999), The Hidden Powers of Animals (2001), The Beasts That Hide From Man (2003), Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo: From the Pages of Fortean Times (2010), Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery (2012), Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture (2013), The Menagerie of Marvels (2014), A Manifestation of Monsters (2015), Here's Nessie! (2016), and what is widely considered to be his cryptozoological magnum opus, Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors (2016) - plus, very excitingly, his first two long-awaited, much-requested ShukerNature blog books (2019, 2020).

Dr Karl Shuker's Official Website - http://www.karlshuker.com/index.htm

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Sunday 1 January 2017

ARE GIANT FLIGHTLESS RAVENS SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT IN CANADA?


Representation of the possible appearance of British Columbia's alleged red-tailed giant ravens (© Dr Karl Shuker)

What better way for ShukerNature to begin 2017 than with a hitherto little-known mystery beast – so here is one right now!

On 28 March 2012, French cryptozoological correspondent Raphaël Marlière kindly brought to my attention the following intriguing report that he'd recently seen on the Cryptodominion website (click here). It may well be mere folklore - then again, it just might be something more.

Normal ravens (public domain)

According to Cryptodominion, loggers who have worked in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, assert that an isolated, timber-rich valley exists here that is inhabited by huge ravens, bigger even than golden eagles, but virtually flightless, and further distinguished from normal ravens Corvus corax by their tail plumage, which exhibits a noticeable amount of red pigmentation. Apparently, these mystery red-tailed mega-corvids are very dangerous and opportunistic, not hesitating to wreck a campsite.

Lumberjack folklore is renowned in North America for its tall tales of exotic fauna (variously dubbed fierce or fearsome critters) – everything from fur-bearing trout to spiky-furred cactus cats – so this may simply be a less familiar variant. Nevertheless, if anyone out there has any additional information concerning such birds, I'd be very interested to receive details.

Elegant raven sculpture at the Raveleijn theatre in Efteling, a fantasy-based theme park at Kaatsheuvel, in the Netherlands (public domain)








3 comments:

  1. Interesting! Not something that someone would make up! If you where going to create your own fake criptid I'd imagine you'd make it sound a little more interesting, and describe it with some crazy details

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  2. Another good article, though the original link is lacking in specific details such as the location of the valley or where the original report came from.

    Previously unknown species of bird can appear even in cities, let alone isolated BC valleys.

    I was walking along a Calgary, Alberta street one afternoon several years ago and spotted what looked at first to be a common magpie. But the bird was not afraid of my presence and had a narrow band of yellow, blue and green midway along its beak. I still have no idea what species of corvid I saw. Perhaps Dr. Shuker could shed some light on this?

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  3. Sounds very intriguing yet the near flightless aspect has what evolutionary reason or cause?

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