Denver, Colorado, September 3, 2005 - Ph.D. student Johann Schneider has discovered a previously unknown species of cloven-hoofed mammal, which he has named "Barabou". Schneider was tracking a herd of Woodland Caribou in the Medicine Bow Range, part of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, as part of his doctoral research for a zoology thesis paper. After almost six weeks of tracking the herd, Schneider first spotted the unusual animal in mid-July, whereupon he immediately contacted Doctor Carolyn Tand, Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado at Pueblo, and Schneider's doctoral advisor for the past two years.

"It had the same cloven hooves and general appearance as a Woodland Caribou," says Schneider, "but with a broader, more muscular body. Its coat was thicker and darker than a caribou, and its antlers were much larger. The scariest thing was the elongated mouth and the sharp, canine-like incisors." When Schneider first came across a caribou carcass, he thought it was the work of some wolves. Three days after that, however, he spotted a large animal with a bloody muzzle, but it ran off before he could get a picture. "The first time I saw it, it was just a few seconds. It looked like a moose-sized caribou. I didn't know what to make of it," says Schneider. Two days after that, he happened upon a small basin where he saw a large animal feeding on another freshly-killed carcass.

Schneider explains, "I didn't see it kill the caribou, but I was horrified at the way it was feeding - it was like a carnivore, viciously ripping the meat from its prey before gulping it down. It reminded me of a bear attack I saw back in Germany." Schneider's name for the new beast comes from his bear memory plus the herd he was tracking: "Bar" (German for "Bear") + "Caribou" = "Barabou".

"It was an amazing find," says Tand, who was on summer break from the university when she received the urgent cell phone call from Schneider. "I knew approximately where Johann was--we'd arranged it that was for safety reasons." One week later, thanks to a park ranger with a GPS system in his helicopter, Dr. Tand found Schneider with only marginal difficulty.

"It took us a while to find the herd's trail and catch up with them," she says, "but within the next two weeks, we saw it feeding twice and we both realized that it was following the herd as we were, picking them off one at a time when it got hungry. We continued following, taking plenty of photos and notes, checking and re-checking to be absolutely sure this was indeed a new species of animal."

When they returned home in mid-August, they immediately announced the discovery. "I think I have a new subject for my thesis," says Schneider with a grin. "This next year should be quite exhilarating!"

For additional information, please contact: Dr. Carolyn Tand, University of Colorado at Pueblo, 719-555-8263.

Johann Schneider's family moved to Pueblo, Colorado from Munich, Germany when he was eight years old. He enjoys studying animals and nature, and intends to one day become "The greatest veterinarian the San Diego Zoo has ever seen!"

Doctor Carolyn Tand is divorced and has lived in Pueblo, Colorado for the last 14 years. In addition to her career, she enjoys hiking, volunteering at the Pueblo Zoo, and taking care of her ten-year-old son, Charles Xavier.

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