I agree that ‘fear of ostracization’ is probably the biggest hurdle to cryptozoology. However, I thought it was interesting to see this researcher admit that ‘they are usually looking for other things’ (than a large, widely dispersed and locally known but very elusive mammal). So, I started thinking that could also be a major contributor to the problems faced by cryptozoology. For example, when you see TV programmes about scientific expeditions, they seem to put most of their effort into trying to catch small creatures (fine nets to catch birds and fish etc.) I’m sure it’s much easier to trap lots of small creatures and greatly increase the chances of the researchers discovering a new species, then it is to trap a single very large one.

And the case of this large cat is also a good example of how very, very hard it can be to get even a couple of photos of an already known and large, but elusive, mammal species (another of the hurdles in getting more acceptance of our wild hominid friend).

But it just might – like this one – be an animal that many people see. And have many very good reasons for not reporting.

This one?

It’s a cat. Looks like, well, a cat. And a pretty innocuous one at that. Many people see it, and know that all their friends see it, so it’s just not a big deal to them, as it is to the researchers who – they say it themselves – are usually looking for something else. Sightings – as they are with most truly wild animals – are generally brief, and the natives of the areas where it lives probably have very many fleeting glimpses of a wide variety of local animals. This one just doesn’t excite them that much, largely because people from outside don’t come around asking them much about it.

That one? (OK, presuming here, bear with me.)

Looks like an animal of which there are absolutely NONE, got that, NONE in the places where this one lives, so if you see one you are, by definition, crazy and will likely be ostracized by most if not all who know you, including family, and maybe fired from your job. (Good luck getting a recommendation.) Some communities in the southern US, now …but let me let a witness tell you: “There are many sightings in the general area. People in Louisiana don’t like to have conversations about things they don’t understand so not many people talk about their sightings. Maybe they don’t talk much about them because they’re so common.” One researcher, tossing out a number, speculated ten times the number of actual sightings as reports. (He’s a scientist, in a field very relevant to the subject.)

Does that one remind me of this one? Well, for different reasons, maybe.

But, well, yes.

It is spread across equatorial Africa, but it is cryptic and we presume solitary, making observations few and far between.”

Doesn’t this remind you of another elusive large mammal that has a large distribution and is seen by many local communities, but most scientists and the public believe doesn’t exist, as it would surely have been properly photographed by now?