THE WEIRDEST WEEKEND OF THE YEAR

For one weekend a year the tiny North Devon village of Woolsery becomes the weirdest village in the land. The largest gathering of scholars of esoteric natural history in the English-speaking world, is set to take place in rural north Devon. The Centre for Fortean Zoology’s annual conference, the Weird Weekend, will see speakers from all over the country gathering Woolsery to discuss their work and discoveries.

The Weird Weekend, held over the weekend of the 17-19th August, now in its 13th year is the largest convention of its kind in the English-speaking world. This year’s speakers includes Glen Vaudrey, a researcher from Cheshire, talking about Scottish Sea Serpent carcasses, and Paul Screeton from Hartlepool telling the peculiar story of the Hexham Heads; a convoluted tale involving werewolves, and a model head of Adolf Hitler.

Other speakers include Richard Thorns, a British explorer and ornithologist, who has made several expeditions to Myanmar (Burma) in search of the pink headed duck – the rarest duck in the world – which mainstream science has considered extinct since 1950.

Also featured is Jan Bondeson a senior lecturer and consultant rheumatologist at the Cardiff University School of Medicine, who is also an expert on the folklore of dogs. He will be talking about the legend of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray (Old Jock), until he died himself on 14 January 1872.

Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman will be talking about the Centre for Fortean Zoology’s latest expedition that took them to Sumatra for the fourth time, in search of a unknown species of upright walking ape; the orang pendek.

As well as monstrous creatures, other esoteric subjects are covered. Author and researcher Kevin Goodman asks whether a belief in UFOs is akin to a new religion, and the irrepressible Ronan Coghlan, a retired Irish Classics teacher will be looking at the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.

As well as a series of talks there will be stalls, workshops and events.

The Weird Weekend raises funds for village charities dealing with children and for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the only full time organization in the world dedicated to the investigation of mystery animals.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 17 - 19th of August.
For further details visit http://www.weirdweekend.org/
Or ring 01237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (52) and is a company limited by guarantee registered with HM Government.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including India, Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press is the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by over 118,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (55). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* Sponsors of this year’s event can be found:
http://forteanzoology.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/sponsors-of-2012-weird-weekend.html
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

DEVON GATHERING IS WORLD’S WEIRDEST!

For one weekend a year the tiny North Devon village of Woolsery becomes the weirdest village in the land. The largest gathering of scholars of esoteric natural history in the English-speaking world, is set to take place in rural north Devon. The Centre for Fortean Zoology’s annual conference, the Weird Weekend, will see speakers from all over the country gathering Woolsery to discuss their work and discoveries.

The Weird Weekend,held over the weekend of the 19-21st August, now in its 12 year is the largest convention of its kind. This year’s speakers include one of the world’s leading geneticists Professor Bryan Sykes. Professor Sykes will be speaking on the yeti and samples of hair he has tested. Continuing the theme, cryptozoologist Richard Freeman will be talking about the Centre for Fortean Zoology’s latest expedition that took them into the Garo Hills of northern India on the track of the yeti.

Last year at the convention scientists announced that hairs found in local woodland were those of a leopard. These findings were later confirmed by DNA analysis. A world exclusive this year comes from Dr Darren Naish from Portsmouth University and Max Blake from Bristol University who will produce conclusive proof that over 100 years ago there were still mystery cats in Devon.

Other speakers include Fortean researcher Matt Salusbury who has been on the track of pigmy elephants in India, entomologist Nick Wadham on giant spiders, cryptozoologist Adam Davies on the orang-pendek, the mystery ape of Sumatra, and Glen Vaudrey on the waterhorse, a sea serpent from Scottish legend.

As well as monstrous creatures, other esoteric subjects are covered. Former police officer John Hanson describes UFO cases reaching back to the 1940s.

Other subjects include Ronan Coghlan on the labours of Hercules, and Henry Hartley on Fortean aspects of the modern Mayans.

As well as a series of talks there will be stalls, workshops and events.

The Weird Weekend raises funds for village charities dealing with children and for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the only full time organization in the world dedicated to the investigation of mystery animals.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 19th-21st of August.
For further details visit http://www.weirdweekend.org/
Or ring 01237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (52) and is a company limited by guarantee registered with HM Government.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including India, Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 90,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (55). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

JAPANESE MONSTER BOOK TURNS THE WEIRDOMETER UP TO ‘11’.

Sick of werewolves, tired of zombies, will you scream if you read ay more about vampires? Well Richard Freeman’s new book ‘The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia; An A to Z of Japanese Monsters’ is the perfect antidote. No one could accuse Japanese folklore or Japanese monsters of being run of the mill.

With early public literacy, access to the printing press and hundreds of years of Shinto, Buddhist, and Taoist cultural cross pollinations, the stage is said for some truly insane legendary beasts that make the creations of H.P.Lovecraft look as wholesome as the Care Bears.

Collectively known as Yokai, the ghosts and monsters from the Land of the Rising Sun are so strange that to a western mind they are like having a mental enema. The book lists a cavalcade of the weirdest monsters in the world. Gant man eating sea cucumbers that grow from girl's knickers, pervert water goblins, grave robbing giant rabbits, dragons that impregnate women, flaming pigs that steal human genitals, monsters that eat your hair, monsters that lick the ceiling, monsters that lick poorly kept public toilets, cats that animate dead bodies, dogs with shape shifting testicles, blood sucking weasels and un-dead whales, it's all in here and much, much more!
Were did they come from? Why did people believe in them? Why are they so damn strange? Cold any of them have a distorted basis in reality? Could some of them still exist today?

‘The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia; An A to Z of Japanese Monsters’ is available from CFZ Books at www.cfz.org.uk
Richard Freeman is available for interview.

EXPEDITION TO TEXAS IN SEARCH OF STRANGE DOGS

For Immediate release
4th March 2010

The earliest animal recognisable as the ancestor of modern dogs, foxes and wolves was Prohesperocyon which evolved in southern Texas about 40 Million years ago. Other species followed, and Texas can rightly be called "The Cradle of Dogs". Now, in the early 21st Century there are strange new dogs around in the Lone Star State.
Jonathan Downes (50) and his wife Corinna (53), the Director and Administrator of the UK-based Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ], the world's largest mystery animal research organisation, fly to Texas on Friday. Together with their friends and colleagues Richie and Naomi West who very generously financed the expedition, they will spend two weeks continuing the research into the Texas blue dogs, first carried out by Jonathan Downes in November 2004.

When the first acounts of blue, hairless dogs from Texas first began to filter into the cryptozoological community back in the summer of 2004 they were widely dismissed by cryptopundits as being of mangy coyotes. The CFZ was never happy with that explanation, basically because according to the testimony of every veterinary expert whom we consulted, if an animal was as riddled with mange (or any similar condition) as to be completely hairless, then it would be so ill as to hardly be able to walk, let alone run around, attack chickens or sire progeny (which - by all accounts - are as hairless and blue as the adults).

Some pundits, especially in Texas have described them as "chupacabras". This Spanish term meaning - literally - 'goat sucker', was coined on the island of Puerto Rico (subject of two expeditions by the CFZ) in the mid 1990s to describe a hairless, semi bipedal animal with spikes down its back, suspected of being responsible for the vampiric deaths of domestic livestock across the island. "The Texas blue dogs have nothing to do with the chupacabras" says Jonathan, who has written two books about the Puerto Rican enigma. "They are clearly members of the dog family, but they are something that deserves a proper scientific investigation".

Jonathan visited Texas in November 2004, and has been continuing the investigation at long distance ever since. He believes that the explanation for these creatures is a complicated one, but one which will very much repay the effort the CFZ will be putting in. There is a dedicated blog for this expedition which will be updated daily. It can be found at http://texasbluedogs.blogspot.com/

Watch this space!

Jon and Corinna are available for interview. Pictures are available.
For further details (UK) telephone Graham or Oll on 01237 431413 or (US) Naomi on 254-238-1909

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* The Texas expedition is being filmed by London-based Minnow films for a major BBC2 feature documentary on the CFZ
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Ireland, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films Lair of the Red Worm which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 82,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (53). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (available through YouTube) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom http://www.capcom.com/ on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

22-08-2009 Baby fish in a haunted pub

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009
BABY FISH IN A HAUNTED PUB


PRESS RELEASE:

The landlord of a haunted North Devon pub awoke this morning to find 1,000 extra fish in a tank donated to him by the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation.

Allan Lindsay, of the Farmers Arms, Woolsery, has been working with the CFZ’s Jon Downes on a special project to breed fish with a view to placing tanks in local educational establishments, schools and community centres, to illustrate biodiversity and the work of the CFZ. Last night Lindsay’s daughter, Clarissa, aged 11, noticed massive numbers of baby three spot gourami (originally from the streams and ponds of southeast Asia) in one of the new fish tanks located in her dad’s pub. Earlier this year the pub made headlines across the world after a series of poltergeist incidents involving the landlady and some teenage waitresses which followed the uncovering of an ancient well right in the middle of the building. But on this occasion it is fish experts, not ghost hunters, making a beeline towards the Farmers Arms.

“This is the fourth successful breeding we have witnessed this summer,” said Mr Downes. “This is excellent news as it means that we will be able to press ahead with our initiative to help local people and also to gain better, more expert knowledge. Already we have been able to place two tanks in the Farmers Arms and we are working with a local hospice to provide fish tanks as soon as possible,” he added.

Other species successfully bred include such unusual fish as Heterandaria formosa (the seventh smallest species in the world), and Girardinus metallicus (found only on the island of Cuba). The fish tank initiative is part of the CFZ’s outreach project, whose aim is to educate local people about the wonders of the natural world. At the recent Weird Weekend, the annual conference of the CFZ, held at Woolsery Community Centre, hundreds of people came along to hear a series of talks on mystery animals, rare species and the paranormal. “It is a great feeling to be able to engage with the local community, give them the benefit of our expert knowledge and help people understand more about the world around them,” said Jon Downes, who celebrates his fiftieth birthday this weekend.

“We welcome enquiries from local establishments interested in finding out more about the fish tanks or about our outreach for schools.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

19-05-2009 Weird Weekend

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009
PRESS RELEASE: 2009 Weird Weekend

Once again, this August, the tiny North Devon village of Woolfardisworthy becomes the weirdest place in the land, as people from all over the world converge upon the Community Centre for the tenth annual Weird Weekend.

The Weird Weekend is the world-famous annual fundraiser for the Devon based Centre for Fortean Zoology – the world’s largest mystery animal research group, and is three days of fun for all the family. There are lectures, films, music and theatre, and the world’s leading experts on a whole range of mysteries.

Highlights this year include:

TIM THE YOWIE MAN
An Australian naturalist who has spent his life researching the yowie – Australia’s version of the yeti. He even changed his name by deed poll.
NICK REDFERN
An English author now living in Dallas who has uncovered one of the strangest stories of post war USSR: That Stalin hoped to breed a race of super soldiers who were part human, part gorilla.
ANDY ROBERTS
A much-respected UK investigator tells the strange story of the Big Grey Man of Ben McDhui – a mountain in The Cairngorms

But the Weird Weekend does not just provide a forum for well-established researchers to present their research. MAX BLAKE (18) will be making his conference debut this year with a fascinating account of how creatures unknown to science can turn up in the pet trade. What’s more he will be bringing some of these animals along with him.

There is also a whole programme of events for children; something which makes this event unique. “Unlike other conferences on these subjects,” says organiser Jonathan Downes, who celebrates his 50th birthday the same week as the event, “the Weird Weekend is aimed at the whole family, and at the general public as well as the specialist researcher.”

“The Weird Weekend has become a real community event over the past few years,” he continues. “Last year the eldest person through the door was 87, and the youngest only 2.”

It is not just a fundraiser for the CFZ. Local charities also benefit, and it is a showcase for several environmental and animal welfare groups.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 14-16th August 2009, and advance weekend tickets are on sale at £20. For more details telephone Jon or Corinna on 01237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors

08-02-2009 Do giant snakes still crawl the earth?

PRESS RELEASE: Do Giant Snakes still crawl the earth?
For Immediate Release
2009-02-08

DO GIANT SNAKES STILL CRAWL THE EARTH?

The scientific world was rocked recently when the remains of eight gigantic snakes were unearthed in a Columbian quarry. Measuring 43 feet, Titanoboa cerrejonensis was among the largest fossil snakes ever to have been uncovered. You might think such monsters must surely be restricted to the dim, primordial past – but you would be wrong, say a group of Devon-based scientists.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology is the world’s only full-time scientific organisation dedicated to the investigation of anomalous or undiscovered species of animal. The group has tracked gigantic serpents all across the globe.

Zoologial director Richard Freeman, a reptile specialist, says:

"Stories of monstrous snakes appear in most cultures, but there may be much more than ancient legend in these tales. In the year 2000, I explored the rivers, caves and jungles of Thailand. I interviwed a number of witnesses who claimed to have seen a huge snake, known as a naga. The animal lived in water and bore an erectile crest on its head. In Sumatra the tribespeople spoke of encountering vast horned snakes in the deep jungle.

“Such creatures are not restricted to the tropics. Whilst in the Caucausus mountains of Russia, we were told of a 33-foot-long species of snake that inhabited marshy areas of the former Soviet Union."

However the most promising accounts come from South America, says Richard.

"In 2007 we travelled to Guyana on the track of the giant anaconda. Our guide, Damon Corrie, was an Arawak Indian chief. He told us of a titanic anaconda inhabiting a remote lake. It was so huge that he hunters who saw it fled in terror. They pointed out a 30-foot tree to him and said the snake was far larger. The anaconda in question would have been in the region of 40 feet!

"Frustratingly, due to adverse weather conditions, we could not reach the lake where the giant snake dwelt. More recently, very large anaconda have been reported closer to Damon's village in the grasslands of Guyana."

The CFZ is currently looking for sponsorship, so that Richard can lead an expedition to return to Guyana and travel to the lake in question.

"We know where the lake is, so we will not have to search too wide an area. The creature is a 'sitting duck'. We hope to head out this spring or summer, funding permitting," he says.

"Because anacondas give birth to live young, rather than laying eggs, they have severed their last link with land. Very big ones spend most of their time buoyed up in the water."

But such large snakes can prove dangerous. As recently as the late 1990s, an anaconda thought to be 45 feet long devoured Daniel Menezes in Soa Paulo Brazil as his father Joao looked on helplessly.

Pictures are available. For further details, or to arrange an interview with Richard please telephone Jon or Corinna on +44 (0)1237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv www.cfztv.org. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/) which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.