Jim Jung Dies
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 18th, 2007
Jim Jung, 54, an Illinois panther researcher and Fortean author passed away on March 15, 2007. He had for years gathered the disputed information that convinced him that black panthers and eastern cougars lived in his home state. As long as his website remains active, his cougar data on the web can be found here and here.
Jung had just published his special look at the strange phenomena of southern Illinois, in the area north of Cairo called Egypt. He was also known, for the last decade, for his annual Southern Illinois almanac, The Waterman & Hill Traveller’s Companion.
Scott Maruna first noted Jung’s death online yesterday:
It is with a heavy heart that I must report that the biofortean community has lost a valuable member. Jim Jung, of southern Illinois, has succumbed to stage four lung cancer….Sadly, distance prevented me from Knowing Jung better than I did, but…I do know that the world is worse off for the loss of this hardworking, generous and scientific man. My prayers go out to his wife, Ruby.Scott Maruna, Saying Goodbye to an Illinois Cougar Tracker
The Carbondale Southern Illinoisian also carried an article about Jung’s death, on March 17, 2007, entitled “Beloved outdoorsman Jim Jung dead at 54”.
Thanks, Kittenz.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
May he rest in peace.
Jim Jung was one of the first people to suggest publicly that Canada lynx and bobcats may be hybridizing in the wild, and that it could lead to the development of a new species. This is a page from Jim’s Nature Almanac where he discusses the wild bobcat/lynx hybrids.
It’s been known for a long time that the cats can be bred together in captivity, but now we know that this hybridization also sometimes happens where wild populations of the two overlap. Wild bobcat/lynx hybrids have been documented in Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota (that I know of). This is an older article from the US Fish & Wildlife Service that discusses in more detail the confirmation of some Maine hybrids.
I wonder if these hybrids could be the animals that are killing dogs and livestock in Maine?
Recently there was an article about interspecies hybridization on the National Geographic news website that indicates it may be more common in nature than is generally thought:
It just goes to show that someone like Jim Jung, who watches and listens to the natural world, can intuitively come to a knowledge years ahead of the “established” scientific community.
I have really enjoyed the The Waterman and Hill-Traveller’s Companion also Jim’s websites, not just for the puma sightings update but for the folksy, downhome information on everything from gardening to fishing. He will be missed.