ZOOLOGICAL MYSTERIES
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Albert Einstein
Ever since the very beginning, mysterious and fictional creatures have always fascinated and frightened mankind through myths, legends and ancient tales.
Stories of unicorns, mermaids, giant octopuses, colossal snakes, hairy anthropoids and other more or less impressive beings, have passed through the millennia, being especially nourished by the timeless fascination that mystery exerts for us: a sort of “creative exorcism” that our mind adopts facing the unknown. Sometimes, however, fantasy is based on a kernel of reality. Since the beginning of the last century, many legendary creatures have proven themselves real to official science, such as the okapi, the Komodo dragon, the mountain gorilla, the giant squid and many other species, totally new although often present in the locals' folklore.
Today, that savage nature that still enchants us – often due to imperfect knowledge – and that we do not protect properly, may still yield amazing surprises: sea depths, thick forests and most rugged mountain peaks indeed conceal the existence of many animal and plant species still waiting to be discovered. Regrettably, in many places increasing alterations to the natural environment caused by our “civilization” grows faster than researchers who explore endangered ecosystems. An insane process that will likely doom many species to extinction, many of those being still unknown to official science.
Stefano Maugeri
