Here’s an invitation you don’t get everyday: the chance to visit the Grant Museum of Zoology and enjoy a free glass of wine amongst the remains of extinct animals such as the dodo, the quagga (a cute zebra/donkey thing) and the Tasmanian tiger during a private view.

Or are they extinct? Cryptozoology experts Richard Freeman and Jonathan Downes, of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, not only assert that the thylacine (pictured) is still hopping and yowling around jungles, but also that more exotic creatures are out there, merely glimpsed by humanity but not catalogued by science.

They’ll be talking about their adventures on expeditions searching for such wonders and horrors at the Loch Ness Monster, the Mexican Chupacabra (Goat Sucker) and the venom-spitting electrical Mongolian Deathworm.

‘Cryptozoology Season’ starts at 6pm on Tuesday 20th May at Grant Museum of Zoology, Darwin Building, University College London, Malet Place, WC1E 6BT. Nearest tubes: Euston Sq, Euston, Goodge St & Warren St

By Scott Wood