Centre for Fortean Zoology
Encyclopedia
Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) is an organisation dedicated to cryptozoology
, and allied disciplines. It is a non-profit organisation registered with the British Government, and its Hon. Life President is the British explorer John Blashford-Snell
.
The Centre was founded in 1992 by Jonathan Downes
. In 2005, Downes inherited his family home in rural North Devon, and the organisation relocated there; they are in the process of building a visitor's centre complete with a museum, and library.
The publishing arm of the CFZ is a company called CFZ Press
, which has now published over fifty titles, which may make them the largest publisher of books on cryptozoology in the world. Since 2000, the CFZ has promoted an annual conference called The Weird Weekend
. In 2006, after six years in Exeter, the conference was moved to rural North Devon
as well. In 2006 the CFZ announced plans for a web-based TV station called CFZtv.
, animal mutilations (on which subject they have worked closely with several British police forces), animal colour variants
, teratology
, animal folklore
, and such classic Fortean staples as creature falls
(fafrotskies), and vampire
/werewolf
reports. This is why the organisation refers to itself as the "Centre for Fortean Zoology", rather than any moniker including the word "Cryptozoology".
and analysis of unknown animals.
These creatures are animals which are out of place, i.e., known species
which by accident and/or artificial introduction
living where would not normally expect to find them—one good example being alien big cats
said to live in British moorland
s.
However, not all out-of-place animals occur because of human intervention. Some are the result of accidental migration due to inclement weather or unusual marine currents. They are often known animal species that seem to be dramatically increasing their geographical range.
Other pseudo-cryptids include outsized or oddly coloured individual or groups of animals of a known species. A good example of a pseudo-cryptid would be the golden frogs of the United Kingdom which are the subject of a current CFZ research project.
territory. In many ways, these elusive and contentious entities have plagued cryptozoology since its inception, and tend to be dismissed by mainstream science as thoroughly unworthy of consideration. Zooform phenomena seem to be a strange blend of paranormal
manifestation and mythology
.
However, Jonathan Downes
, who first coined the term in 1990, maintains that many zooform phenomena result from complex psychosocial
and sociological phenomena, and suggests that to classify all such phenomena as "paranormal" in origin is counterproductive. A good example of a zooform phenomenon would be the Owlman of Mawnan.
.
Additionally, the Centre annually publishes the CFZ Yearbook; there have been nine issues thus far.
Cryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
, and allied disciplines. It is a non-profit organisation registered with the British Government, and its Hon. Life President is the British explorer John Blashford-Snell
John Blashford-Snell
Colonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell OBE is a former British Army officer, explorer and author.John Blashford-Snell was educated at Victoria College, Jersey and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, then commissioned into the Royal Engineers.Amongst his expeditions have been the first descent...
.
| Hon. Life President: Colonel John Blashford-Snell John Blashford-Snell Colonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell OBE is a former British Army officer, explorer and author.John Blashford-Snell was educated at Victoria College, Jersey and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, then commissioned into the Royal Engineers.Amongst his expeditions have been the first descent... |
| Director: Jonathan Downes Jonathan Downes Jonathan Downes is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. He is Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T... |
| Deputy Director: Graham Inglis |
| Zoological Director: Richard Freeman |
| Administrative Director: Corinna Newton Downes |
| Ecologist: Oll Lewis |
| Expedition Co-ordinator: Adam Davies |
| Charity advisor: Matthew Osborne |
| Technician: David Phillips |
Jonathan Downes
Jonathan Downes is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. He is Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T...
. In 2005, Downes inherited his family home in rural North Devon, and the organisation relocated there; they are in the process of building a visitor's centre complete with a museum, and library.
The publishing arm of the CFZ is a company called CFZ Press
CFZ Press
CFZ Press is a publishing company run in conjunction with the Centre for Fortean Zoology . It specialises in publishing non-fiction books and magazines about cryptozoology and allied disciplines....
, which has now published over fifty titles, which may make them the largest publisher of books on cryptozoology in the world. Since 2000, the CFZ has promoted an annual conference called The Weird Weekend
The Weird Weekend
The Weird Weekend is an annual conference hosted by the Centre for Fortean Zoology in rural North Devon. Founded in 2000, it is a fundraiser for the CFZ.-History:...
. In 2006, after six years in Exeter, the conference was moved to rural North Devon
North Devon
North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...
as well. In 2006 the CFZ announced plans for a web-based TV station called CFZtv.
Fortean Zoology
The primary focus of the CFZ involves unknown animals, or cryptozoology, but the CFZ also examines unusual and aberrant animal behaviorEthology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
, animal mutilations (on which subject they have worked closely with several British police forces), animal colour variants
Animal colouration
Animal coloration is the general appearance of an animal resulting from the reflection or emission of light from its surfaces. The mechanisms for colour production in animals include pigments, chromatophores, structural coloration, and bioluminescence....
, teratology
Teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. It is often thought of as the study of human birth defects, but it is much broader than that, taking in other non-birth developmental stages, including puberty; and other non-human life forms, including plants.- Etymology :The...
, animal folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, and such classic Fortean staples as creature falls
Raining animals
Raining animals is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals "rain" from the sky. Such occurrences have been reported from many countries throughout history. One hypothesis offered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds traveling over water sometimes pick up creatures...
(fafrotskies), and vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
/werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
reports. This is why the organisation refers to itself as the "Centre for Fortean Zoology", rather than any moniker including the word "Cryptozoology".
Mystery Animals
The CFZ studies the various aspects of cryptozoology and allied disciplines, and have introduced a new three tier concept to aid classificationAlpha taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...
and analysis of unknown animals.
Cryptids
Cryptozoology is the study of hidden or unknown animals belonging to species wholly or partly unknown to science, often collectively called 'cryptids'.Pseudo-cryptids
Many researchers are interested in a related category of mystery animals often dubbed pseudo-cryptids, which are not strictly part of cryptozoology. This is one reason why Downes formulated the portmanteau discipline of Fortean zoology.These creatures are animals which are out of place, i.e., known species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
which by accident and/or artificial introduction
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
living where would not normally expect to find them—one good example being alien big cats
Phantom cat
Phantom cats, also known as Alien Big Cats , are large felines, such as jaguars or cougars, which have been purported to appear in regions outside their indigenous range...
said to live in British moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
s.
However, not all out-of-place animals occur because of human intervention. Some are the result of accidental migration due to inclement weather or unusual marine currents. They are often known animal species that seem to be dramatically increasing their geographical range.
Other pseudo-cryptids include outsized or oddly coloured individual or groups of animals of a known species. A good example of a pseudo-cryptid would be the golden frogs of the United Kingdom which are the subject of a current CFZ research project.
Zooform phenomena
The third cryptozoological category consists of zooform phenomena. These are not animals at all, but entities or apparitions which adopt or seem to have (quasi)animal form. This is where we (at least to some extent) enter science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
territory. In many ways, these elusive and contentious entities have plagued cryptozoology since its inception, and tend to be dismissed by mainstream science as thoroughly unworthy of consideration. Zooform phenomena seem to be a strange blend of paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
manifestation and mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
.
However, Jonathan Downes
Jonathan Downes
Jonathan Downes is a cryptozoologist, author, film-maker, journalist, composer and singer-songwriter, with a background in radical politics and mental health care. He is Director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology.His father, the explorer and Colonial Service Officer J. T...
, who first coined the term in 1990, maintains that many zooform phenomena result from complex psychosocial
Psychosocial
For a concept to be psychosocial means it relates to one's psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. The individual needs not be fully aware of this relationship with his or her environment. It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of...
and sociological phenomena, and suggests that to classify all such phenomena as "paranormal" in origin is counterproductive. A good example of a zooform phenomenon would be the Owlman of Mawnan.
Foreign Expeditions
CFZ members have carried out expeditions to:- SumatraSumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
(2003,2004 and 2009) - MongoliaMongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
(2005) - Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
(1998 and 2004) - MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(1998) - ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
(2000) - FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(1998) - NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
(1999 and 2003) - TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(2003, 2004 and 2010) - IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(2004) - The GambiaThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
(2006) - GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
(2007) - RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(2008) - India (2010)
UK Based Investigations
- Martin MereMartin MereMartin Mere is a mere near Burscough, Lancashire, England on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The mere is a vast marsh, around that, until it was drained, was the largest body of fresh water in England.-History:...
(2002) - CannockCannockCannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
(2003) - Bolam Lake (2004)
- Loch MorarLoch MorarLoch Morar is a freshwater loch in Morar, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It is the fifth-largest loch in Scotland, with a surface area of and the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of ....
(2005) - Lake DistrictLake DistrictThe Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
(2006)
- Llangorse LakeLlangorse LakeLlangorse Lake is the largest natural lake in south Wales, and is situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park, near to the town of Brecon and the village of Llangors....
(2006)
Publications
The Centre publishes a journal entitled Animals & Men, which was founded in 1994. Animals & Men covers a wide range of phenomena that fall into the broad category of CryptozoologyCryptozoology
Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...
.
Additionally, the Centre annually publishes the CFZ Yearbook; there have been nine issues thus far.