tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post3473261670072281497..comments2024-03-22T21:58:18.933+00:00Comments on ShukerNature: WHEN NANDI BEARS AND GROUND SLOTHS CAME TO TOWN? TWO EARLY EXHIBITIONS OF CRYPTIDS IN ENGLAND?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15628598508836601012noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-21771185815329178632020-08-03T22:11:15.197+01:002020-08-03T22:11:15.197+01:00You misunderstand. I'm not suggesting here tha...You misunderstand. I'm not suggesting here that a surviving ground sloth species may explain the Nandi bear - instead, I'm suggesting that a Nandi bear may be the identity for one of the two mystery beasts mentioned here, and a ground sloth the identity of the other one of the two mystery beasts mentioned here.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-20318464797091869612020-08-03T16:29:25.249+01:002020-08-03T16:29:25.249+01:00I'm intrigued by the notion of the giant groun...I'm intrigued by the notion of the giant ground sloth surviving into more modern times. In particular I've tended to hear it bandied about as a putative identity for the Mapinguari rather than anything like the Nandi Bear...Hilary Wilsonhttp://www.otherworldexotics.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-37479359617837973312019-11-02T11:48:03.896+00:002019-11-02T11:48:03.896+00:00Yes indeed - I have documented the American beaver...Yes indeed - I have documented the American beaver killer in my book Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors, published in 2016.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-52851846976677021692019-11-01T18:45:41.735+00:002019-11-01T18:45:41.735+00:00I´ve always perceived Nandi bear aka keryt as a ca...I´ve always perceived Nandi bear aka keryt as a carnivore similar to wolverine. They were described as very dangerous carnivores attacking sleeping native people in their homes in the night. It sounds like a marten attacking hens. The same strategy of hunting. They´re also known for prefering brains more than other body parts as food.<br />This Chalicothere doesn´t look wery hyaena-like or carnivore-like and it would not be able to sneak into the cottage in the night silently. I think the name was accidentaly connected with different animal species.<br />But there are intereting informations about american great ground sloths. There´s a cryptide known among the native tribes as "beaver killer" and it looks like a ground sloth according to descriptions. Natives say these "beaver killers" use their claws to dig into the beaver dams and kill beavers. While it was believed that ground sloths were herbivorous, the newest researches show they were probably omnivorous and used their long claws to kill their prey, not only for self-defense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-84728810234141350082019-10-15T02:47:33.497+01:002019-10-15T02:47:33.497+01:00Excellent news! Thanks for posting it here.Excellent news! Thanks for posting it here.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-39670575700816734402019-10-14T21:44:02.258+01:002019-10-14T21:44:02.258+01:00I am pleased to advise that Clinton Keeling's ...I am pleased to advise that Clinton Keeling's "Where the..." books regarding closed zoos and menageries are being re-published by The Bartlett Society. The first, "Where the Lion Trod", was published this year and may be obtained from The Bartlett Society's website: www.zoohistory.co.uk It is planned to publish "Where the Crane Danced" in 2020. mountainnyalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595949601880266160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-4249600008320563142019-05-09T17:05:29.359+01:002019-05-09T17:05:29.359+01:00Thanks very much for this most welcome additional ...Thanks very much for this most welcome additional information, and for your very interesting suggestion as to whether or not Mander's prairie fiends really were Tasmanian devils, which is a suggestion that to my mind is certainly plausible, given the widespread confusion and misnaming of animals that regularly occurred during that period of time with menageries and suchlike. Speaking of which: during the past day, I've uncovered some additional Mander-related reports concerning not only the prairie devils but also some other equally mystifying creatures that he was displaying at that same time, whose names and identities are currently puzzling me. They include the yaxtruss and/or Tartarian silken buffalo, the tapir-like river elephant (which sounds incredibly like a cryptozoological beast called the water elephant), the umbrella elephants, the Ethiopian crested boboos, and the kinague. What on earth could these be? Glad to hear that my mandrill suggestion for the blue-faced gorilla was correct.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-38121358503800650352019-05-09T08:50:29.784+01:002019-05-09T08:50:29.784+01:00I'm glad they interest you. There is also a re...I'm glad they interest you. There is also a report from 1875 (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8940618) of Manders' animals being auctioned. The animals did include "two Tasmanian devils, male and female, only fetched £3 the pair. The animals are, of course, Diabolus ursinus." (This report also reveals that the blue-faced gorilla was indeed a mandrill - supposedly captured in Ethiopia(?!) during the British punitive expedition.) But if they were sold in 1875, they probably weren't around in 1869, given their natural lifespans and probable quality of life.<br /><br />This might sound far-fetched, but MAYBE this could be a case of "reborrowing"?: Manders exhibits some unidentified animals under the name of Indian Prairie Fiends - then another menagerie rolls into town and exhibits Tasmanian devils, known but still unusual at the time, under a similar name to attract visitors - then Manders' Menagerie, after the actual mystery animals and Manders himself (d. 1871) die a few years later, does the same thing. The fact that the name "prairie fiends" only appears in relation to two menageries operating at the same time suggests that one of them borrowed the name from the other.Bradypus Tamiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17699961514061267645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-16598720522427544602019-05-09T05:21:21.671+01:002019-05-09T05:21:21.671+01:00How interesting! Tasmanian devil is certainly a mo...How interesting! Tasmanian devil is certainly a most unexpected identity for the Indian prairie fiends - so much so, in fact, that I cannot help but wonder whether it too is as spurious as the 'prairie fiend' moniker, especially as the Tasmanian devil's head really looks nothing like a hippo's and if this were truly the identity of the prairie fiends one would have expected the devil's very eyecatching white-striped black fur to have featured in Mander's description of the prairie fiends. Moreover, some of his other animal descriptions and identifications given in the two newspaper reports cited by you above are anything but accurate, e.g. fan-tailed yak, and blue-faced gorilla (this latter beast was much more likely to have been a mandrill). Nevertheless, it is nothing of not intriguing, so I shall use it as a springboard for more research into this case, and I thank you most sincerely for bringing these newspaper reports to my attention. What a tragedy that Clinton Keeling will never learn of them, he would, like me, have been both fascinated and spurred on by their revelation to investigate this case further.Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-35232800778844592892019-05-09T04:43:07.538+01:002019-05-09T04:43:07.538+01:00There is a record from 1868 of an Edmond's Men...There is a record from 1868 of an Edmond's Menagerie (formerly Wombwell's) exhibiting in Wales "THE TASMANIAN DEVIL, or PRAIRIE FIEND, from Van Dieman's Land". A later 1873 newspaper report, also from Wales, mentions "the Tasmanian devils, or prairie fiends" as being part of Mander's own collection. I suppose a Tasmanian devil's head could be compared to a hippo's (wide with fangs)?<br /><br />https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3870799/3870803/61/<br /><br />https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3287868/3287870/7/Bradypus Tamiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17699961514061267645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-87338149008359820272019-05-08T01:10:54.090+01:002019-05-08T01:10:54.090+01:00I had thought about capybaras too, but discounted ...I had thought about capybaras too, but discounted them because, as you say, they conspicuously lack the tigerine claws that seemed to be such a notable, intrinsic characteristic of the prairie fiends.<br />Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-27733774295964512032019-05-08T00:04:08.409+01:002019-05-08T00:04:08.409+01:00Another possible South American identity for the &...Another possible South American identity for the 'Prairie fiends'- the Capybara. It's certainly not hard to read their large, square heads as hippo-like, or their stocky, brown-furred bodies as bear-like, or their ears as resembling a rounder version of those of horses. It does, admittedly, take a bit more imagination to get anything 'tiger-like' out of their webbed feet, but perhaps that descriptor was simply a sensationalized way of highlighting the animals' prominent (if blunt) claws.Andrew O'Donnellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-64906715491237643012019-05-07T13:44:16.606+01:002019-05-07T13:44:16.606+01:00Yes indeed, I actually found this out last night w...Yes indeed, I actually found this out last night when researching online for possible available photos of Clinton and/or any of his books referred to by me in my article. I'll be purchasing Where the Lion Trod, and hope very much that the Society will indeed republish all of his other books too, as their information is unparalleled and greatly deserving of being read by a whole new audience.<br />Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-72759934661698878992019-05-07T09:22:53.742+01:002019-05-07T09:22:53.742+01:00Regarding the availability of the books of C.H. Ke...Regarding the availability of the books of C.H. Keeling, you may be interested to know that The Bartlett Society (which CHK founded) recently produced a new edition of "Where the Lion Trod", and is hoping to also reprint other books by this author.<br />See http://www.zoohistory.co.uk/ Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com