Dr KARL SHUKER

Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. He is the author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993; greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), Dragons: A Natural History (1995), In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), The Unexplained (1996), From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings (1997), Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999), The Hidden Powers of Animals (2001), The Beasts That Hide From Man (2003), Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo: From the Pages of Fortean Times (2010), Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery (2012), Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture (2013), The Menagerie of Marvels (2014), A Manifestation of Monsters (2015), Here's Nessie! (2016), and what is widely considered to be his cryptozoological magnum opus, Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors (2016) - plus, very excitingly, his first two long-awaited, much-requested ShukerNature blog books (2019, 2020).

Dr Karl Shuker's Official Website - http://www.karlshuker.com/index.htm

IMPORTANT: To view a complete, regularly-updated listing of my ShukerNature blog's articles (each one instantly clickable), please click HERE!

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IMPORTANT: To view a complete, regularly-updated listing of my Starsteeds blog's poetry and other lyrical writings (each one instantly clickable), please click HERE!

IMPORTANT: To view a complete, regularly-updated listing of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's articles (each one instantly clickable), please click HERE!

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Monday 5 December 2016

DEBUNKING THE DISCOVERY OF A DEAD DRAGON


Stills available online from a 'mockumentary' b/w video showing the supposed discovery of a dead dragon - click stills to enlarge (© Cuarto Milenio – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only)

I investigated and debunked the following case back in summer 2016, and others have done so too, but as it is still inciting speculation online I am presenting herewith on ShukerNature my own findings regarding it, in the hope that this deceased dragon can finally be laid to rest permanently.

In August 2016, several correspondents brought to my attention a remarkable b/w video snippet doing the rounds online that showed a team of scientists apparently finding the recently-deceased, still-intact, non-decomposed body of a bona fide dragon. Worryingly, judging from comments posted underneath the video, quite a few people seriously considered it likely that this beast was real. Consequently, I lost no time in investigating the video to determine its origin and uncover the true nature of the dragon in it. Happily, I soon discovered that the video was actually a deliberately-created faux film clip contained within a Spanish TV documentary on dragons entitled Cuarto Milenio (Fourth Millennium), fronted by zoologist Fernando Gonzalez.

Moreover, the dragon itself was a very skilfully-produced, large-sized model, over 12 ft long, created specifically for the documentary by acclaimed Spanish artist-sculptor Juan Villa Herrera and a team of assistants at his workshop, which took a week to prepare. The dragon was constructed from latex and flexible foam, except for its wings, teeth, and claws. Unfortunately, some unidentified person(s) had taken a copy of the documentary's faux film clip and had distributed it online as proof that dragons do exist, thereby creating the appreciable confusion that duly ensued – and which even engendered a variant claim that the dragon in question had been found in Tibet!

Still from video showing how the dragon was painstakingly created by Juan Villa Herrera and his team (© Cuarto Milenio – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only)

At the time of writing, a copy of the b/w faux film clip can be viewed online here, uploaded on 23 February 2016. A colour version of it can be viewed online here, uploaded onto Facebook by Sokh Phally on 19 August 2016. And a superb video revealing how the dragon was constructed step by step by its creator and assistants can be viewed online here, uploaded by Juan Villa Herrero on 21 February 2016.

And for the most comprehensive and extensively-illustrated documentation of dragons currently in print. be sure to check out my full-colour book Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture – the perfect Christmas present for all serious draconophiles everywhere!





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