Richard Freeman

Richard Freeman is a full time cryptozoologist. He searches for and writes about unknown animals. The melodramatic may call him a monster hunter. He has hunted for creatures such as the yeti (a dark haired, giant, upright ape in North India), the Mongolian death worm (a much feared burrowing reptile of the Gobi), the giant anaconda (a monster constricting snake in South America), the ninki-nanka ( a dangerous dragon like beast from the swamps of West Africa), the almasty (a relic hominid in the Caucasus of Russia), orang-pendek (an upright walking ape in Indonesia), the naga (a giant, crested serpent in Indo-China) , the gul (a relic hominin from Tajikistan) and the Tasmanian wolf (a flesh eating marsupial in Tasmania). He is the Zoological Director at the Centre for Fortean Zoology. This is the world’s only full time mystery animal research organization. It is based in North Devon.

A former zookeeper Richard has worked with over 400 species from spiders to elephants but lists crocodiles as his favourite.

He has lectured at the Natural History Museum in London and the Grant Museum of Zoology. Richard is also a regular contributor to the magazine Fortean Times.

He has written books about cryptozoology, folklore and monsters including Dragons: More Than a Myth? , Explore Dragons, The Great Yokai Encyclopaedia: An A to Z of Japanese Monsters and Orang-Pendek: Sumatra’s Forgotten Ape. However he has recently branched out into horror and weird fantasy with Green Unpleasant Land: 18 Tales of British Horror and Hyakumonagatari: Tales of Japanese Horror Book One. His latest work is an overview of cryptozoology and a chronicle of his own expeditions entitled Adventures in Cryptozoloogy.

Richard is a massive fan of classic Doctor Who (60's/ 70's) and a lover of weird fiction and horror.