MICHAEL WALTERS (1942-2017)

Once again, cryptozoology is diminished by the loss of a major longstanding supporter from mainstream science. Douglas GD Russell, the Senior Curator of Eggs at the Natural History Museum in London, has informed me that his predecessor, Michael Walters, passed away on 22 October 2017. In addition to his many years of mainstream ornithological research and his numerous publications – including such classics as Extinct Birds (co-authored with Julian P Hume) and The Complete Birds of

the World, both of which I greatly treasure – Michael had always been very interested in cryptozoology, and he was a member of the Editorial Board for the International Society of Cryptozoology’s interdisciplinary scientific journal Cryptozoology for its last three volumes (11-13).

We corresponded down through the years regarding various mystery birds, some of which he included in his Complete Birds of the World – an extremely comprehensive annotated checklist in book format of every modernday bird species then known, as well as various controversial examples, such as the jetete, a still-contentious, officially unrecognised flamingo form reported from South America. I am currently in the early stages of a major research and writing project that I know would have interested him immensely, and we would certainly have been in communication on many occasions in relation to it in the future as it expands and matures, so I am extremely sad that he will never see it. As ever, here at FT our most sincere condolences and deepest sympathies are offered to Michael’s family and also to his many friends and colleagues worldwide. Douglas GD Russell, pers. comms, 7 Feb 2018.