Such is the importance of the work and legacy of the late Bryan Sykes, I thought I would turn my appreciation for his investigations into a trilogy. On November 1, 2013, the U.K.’’s Channel 4 put out a press release that outlined the facts concerning a new documentary the channel was about to air on Zana, one which, finally, was about to lay the matter to rest. It read, in part: “Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, has carried out DNA tests on saliva samples taken from descendants of Zana – a so-called ‘wild woman’ captured in the late 19
My good friend, cryptozoologist, and former zoo-keeper, Richard Freeman, has very generously let me use the following. It’s Rich’s very own words on Bryan Sykes, who sadly died just a few days ago, and who Rich knew well. With that said, over to Rich, who wrote this before Sykes passed away: “Many books have been written on mystery hominids and hominins over the years including a number of classic titles. Ivan T Sanderson’s
Abominable Snowmen: A Legend Come to Life, Ralph Izzard’s
Abominable Snowman Adventure and Janet and Colin Board’s
Bigfoot Casebook spring to mind.
Guardian newspaper said yesterday, in an article titled “Bryan Sykes Obituary,” “The human geneticist Bryan Sykes, who has died aged 73, pushed forward the analysis of inherited conditions such as brittle bone disease and double-jointedness, and was one of the first to extract DNA from ancient bone. The same Bryan Sykes, holder of a personal chair at Oxford University, analysed hair supposedly taken from mythical hominids such as the Bigfoot and Yeti, and announced the results in a three-part television series. His delight in science and enthusiasm for communicating it to popular audiences were both aspects of an expansive personality that alternately inspired and exasperated his colleagues.” Let’s have a look at some of Sykes’ important work in the field of Cryptozoology.