My guest for this episode is Gary Opit. Gary is an Australian zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author. He also hosts a wildlife talkback radio show on ABC North Coast NSW Local Radio and between 1997 and 2015 conducted a citizen science project, collecting data based on the phone calls and emails he received during that time from people seeking assistance identifying wildlife they had encountered.
Often these would be turn out to be examples of rare known and existing species of animal, but a significant amount were not and indicated the survival of animals previously thought long extinct on the Australian mainland, such as the Thylacine and Marsupial Lion, as well as completely unknown species, including ape and hominid like creatures, commonly referred to in Australia as the ”Yowie”.
Gary has had an incredibly varied career, working as a State Park Ranger, as well as at a number of schools and universities, teaching subjects such as Anthropology, Ecology, Zoology and Botany. His knowledge of the wildlife of Australia is extensive as is that of the history of cryptid sightings in the country.
As you might imagine, our conversation in this episode is a wide ranging one. I talk with Gary about how his interest in Australian cryptids started, the fossil record of wildlife in Australia and the range of habitats that could potentially allow the survival of some of those species into the modern day. Gary talks about some of his own experiences as well as encounters that other people have had with an impressive array of unusual creatures.
Further details on Gary and his research are available on his Facebook page 'Australian Cryptozoology Gary Opit', which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/doolagarl/ and a Kindle version of his book 'Australian Cryptozoology' can be purchased via Amazon here.
If you would like to support the upkeep of Some Other Sphere you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - 'Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
Episode 58 - Dr Holly Walters - Shaligram Stones
Episode 57 - Stephanie Quick - Exploring the esoteric
Episode 56 - Linda Zimmermann - Hudson Valley UFOs
Episode 55 - David Ditchfield - My journey to the afterlife
Episode 54 - Dr Shane McCorristine - The Spectral Arctic
Episode 53 - Laura Tempest Zakroff - Magic, Witchcraft, Sigils and Symbols
Episode 52 - Tanner F. Boyle - The Fortean Influence on Science Fiction
Episode 51 - Ruth Roper Wylde - British Ghosts and Hauntings
Episode 50 - Timothy Boucher and Jeremy Puma - The Quatria Theory
Episode 49 - Dr Eric Wargo - Precognition, Retrocausation and the Unconscious
Episode 48 - Peter Bebergal - Technology and the Supernatural
Episode 47 - Timothy Renner & Joshua Cutchin - High Strangeness and the Bigfoot Phenomenon
Episode 46 - Keith Linder - The Bothell Hell House
Episode 45 - Sorita d'Este - Isles of the Many Gods
Episode 44 - Munya Andrews - Journey into Dreamtime
Episode 43 - Ron Morehead - Voices in the Wilderness
Episode 42 - Rebecca Hardcastle Wright - Exoconsciousness
Episode 41 - Maighdlin Kelly - Key concepts in Astrology
Episode 40 - Anthony Tyler - Empirical Investigations of Mysticism
Episode 39 - Steve Mills - Thoughts on the Rendlesham Forest UFO Incident
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL