Mysterious Creatures : A Guide to Cryptozoology

snow nearby. They detected a strange odor and
felt they were being watched. As they moved
through the scrub, they saw a dark, hairy, 8-foot
figure staring at them. It moved away into the
dense bush.
In 1977, Vince and Trevor Collins were driving
a truck north of Jimberingga Well in the
Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia, when
an enormous, black gorilla emerged from the
bushes into the road, brandishing a tree limb.
In 1989, a 13-foot, hairy giant wielding a
club was seen along Cooper Creek between
Maree and Birdsville, South Australia, by two
carloads of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.
Sources: Ernest Favenc, The History of
Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888
(London: Griffith, Farran, Okeden, and
Welsh, 1888), pp. 188, 202; W. S. Ramson,
ed., The Australian National Dictionary
(Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University
Press, 1988), pp. 335, 376; Rex Gilroy,
“Mystery Lions in the Blue Mountains,” Nexus
2, no. 8 (June-July 1992): 25–27, 64; Rex
Gilroy, Mysterious Australia (Mapleton,
Queensl., Australia: Nexus, 1995); Rex Gilroy,
“Giants of the Dreamtime,” Australasian
Ufologist 3, no. 3 (1999), at http://www.
internetezy.com.au/~mj129/Australasian_
Ufologist2.html.
Jumar
Supposed Hoofed Mammalof Western Europe.
Etymology: From the French jument, “mare.”
Physical description: Mulelike. Head is like a
bull’s. Said to have small, knobby horns. Black
eyes.
Distribution: Southern France; Italy.
Significant sighting: Neapolitan physicist Giambattista
della Porta saw apparent mule x bull
hybrids in Ferrara, Italy, in the sixteenth century.
Possible explanations:
(1) Konrad Gesner’s suggestion that the
Jumar is a Donkey (Equus asinus) x Bull
(Bos taurus) hybrid is impossible, since the
offspring would involve a mating between
two separate ungulate orders, the
artiodactyls and perissodactyls.
260 JUMAR
(2) The comte de Buffon supervised the
dissection of two alleged Jumars but found
them to be small donkeys.
Sources: Konrad Gesner, Historiae animalium
(Zurich, Switzerland: Christ. Froschoverum,
1551–1587); Giambattista della Porta, Natural
Magick [1558] (London: T. Young and S.
Speed, 1658), ii. 9; Georges, comte de Buffon,
“De la dégénération des animaux” [1766], in
Œuvres complètes de Buffon (Paris: Rapet,
1817– 1818).
Jungli-Admi
Multipurpose name for the Yeti, Hindu ascetics,
or any group of people living in the mountains
of Central Asia.
Etymology: From the Urdu (Indo-Aryan) jangli
(“wild”) + admi (“man”).
Behavior: Said to use a bow and arrow.
Distribution: Nepal; Bhutan; Sikkim
Province, northern India.
Significant sighting: In May 1940, C. Reginald
Cooke and his wife, Margaret, were on the
Sikkim-Nepal border at an altitude of 14,000
feet when they found and took photographs of
tracks in the ground made by a heavy creature
with an opposed toe. The Sherpa guides said
they were made by Jungli-admi.
Sources: Donald Macintyre, Hindu-Koh:
Wanderings and Wild Sport on and beyond the
Himalayas (Edinburgh: William Blackwood,
1889), pp. 74–75; H. J. Elwes, “On the
Possible Existence of a Large Ape, Unknown to
Science, in Sikkim,” Proceedings of the
Zoological Society of London, 1915, p. 294; C.
Reginald Cooke, “Yeti Country,” Mankind
Quarterly 15, no. 3 (1975): 178–192; C.
Reginald Cooke, Dust and Snow: Half a
Lifetime in India (Saffron Waldon, England:
C. Reginald Cooke, 1988).
Junjadee
Little P eop le of Australia.
Etymology: Australian word.
Variant names: Bitarr (Kumbainggar/Australian),
Brown Jack, Burgingin (Alawa/Australian,
in Northern Territory), Dinderi (in
Queensland), Junjuddi, Net-net (in Victoria),