J. Richard Greenwell (1942 – November 1, 2005) was a cryptozoologist and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. He participated in expeditions to look for mysterious creatures or

cryptids Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

. He was the secretary for the International Society for Cryptozoology from its inception to his death.

Biography

Born in

Surrey, England Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, Greenwell travelled to South America and stayed there for six years. He later travelled to

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, where he was appointed research coordinator for the Office of Arid Land Studies at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. During the 1970s, he was Assistant Director of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in Tucson.

Cryptozoology and expeditions

In 1982, after a discussion with Roy Mackal, Greenwell helped to found the International Society for Cryptozoology. With funding from the society, he was able to travel the planet searching for

Bigfoot Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

, the Onza, and

Mokele-mbembe In several Bantu mythologies, mokele-mbembe (also written as "mokèlé-mbèmbé") is a mythical water-dwelling entity that is believed to exist in the Congo River Basin. It is variously described as a reptilian creature, a spirit, or a member ...

. He also journeyed to China along with the anthropologist Frank Poirier to try to discover the Yeren, a Chinese version of Bigfoot. All the expeditions were unsuccessful.

Later life

Greenwell wrote a column for BBC Wildlife Magazine for several years. He also appeared as a paid consultant on various documentaries about

cryptozoology Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...

and lectured at universities and museums. For the last several years of his life Greenwell was a research associate at the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, where he also ran the International Society for Cryptozoology. He participated in his last expedition in August 2005, searching for evidence of Bigfoot in the

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

n wilderness, while he was in the last stages of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. He died on November 1, 2005, in Tucson, Arizona.

Legacy

Greenwell is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Nigerian snake in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leptotyphlopidae, '' Tricheilostoma greenwelli''. www.reptile-database.org.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwell, Richard 1942 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English people 21st-century English people 20th-century British explorers Cryptozoologists People from Surrey Deaths from cancer in Arizona English explorers English columnists University of Arizona staff English expatriates in the United States Mokele-mbembe Bigfoot 21st-century British explorers