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the Abominable Snowman, better known as the Yeti. I got fascinated with it and

wanted to know more about such creatures but the adults around me did not take

my questions seriously. When I asked my teachers what this business about

the Yeti was, I was given three blunt answers: "They don't exist," "Get back to

your studies," and "Don't bother me with that." Not much of an encouragement.

Interviewer: I guess our listeners are curious to know what cryptozoology is about.

Loren: Well, cryptozoology is the study of animals and other creatures that have not yet

been accepted by science as real. Such animals are known as cryptids.

Cryptozoologists try to prove that they might exist. Although cryptozoology

doesn't enjoy as much respect as other scientific disciplines, it has had some

spectacular success stories. There are numerous examples of animals which were

considered mythical and then turned out to be real, for instance mountain gorillas

or okapi. Most of the time, cryptozoologists do not work in the field.

The likelihood of encountering the animals we pursue is so small that it wouldn't

make sense to organize expeditions. It is much easier for us to collect sightings

from witnesses who came across a cryptid by accident. Since most cryptids

belong in the realms of myths or fantasy, our main job is not to prove that

a certain cryptid exists, but rather to collect evidence to keep the question open.

If there is a chance it might exist, we can attract zoologists' attention and this in

turn brings the kind of research funding necessary to discover a new species.

Interviewer: What do you think attracts people to cryptids?

Loren: The Yeti, Bigfoot and Nessie, are what I call "celebrity cryptids." Why are

people drawn to these creatures? For one thing, most of us like mysteries. And

also, as humans, we take a keen interest in animals that exhibit a close likeness

to us, especially mammals that are human-sized and bigger.

Interviewer: There is also a lot of media interest in such creatures.

Loren: That's true, the problem is that the media mainly talk about cryptids as monsters,

fuelling stereotypes that are hard to overcome. Myths and rumours of Bigfoot,

Nessie or the Yeti are usually covered as sensational topics and as a result

reporters and journalists tend to imply that cryptozoologists are all hoaxers.

Interviewer: Cryptozoology is often described as a pseudoscience. What do you say to

that?

Loren: It's true that the field is still frowned upon by the scientific community, as for

the majority of scientists cryptozoology fails to adhere to scientific methods and

standards of empirical research. However, advocates of the discipline assert that

cryptozoology should be recognized as a legitimate science and classified as

a subfield of zoology. For me, it spans zoology, popular culture, folklore,

ethnography, anthropology, and many other sciences and deserves to be taken

seriously.

Interviewer: Thank you for being here with us today.

3.1. When Loren Coleman was a teenager, his teachers _______________________________ his interest in the Yeti.

3.2. Cryptozoologists' work involves collecting ____________________________________ ___________________________________.

3.3. The public at large is most interested in mysterious creatures which __________________ _____________________________________________________.

3.4. Loren criticizes mass media for ______________________________________________.

3.5. Loren points out that many scientists do not recognize cryptozoology as science because _______________________________________________________________________.