But that is exactly what author and director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ), Richard Freeman has done for the past 11 years.

And next week he is in South Shields to give a talk on his latest discovery.

The former zookeeper has a simple two-word explanation as to where his love of strange fauna came from. "Doctor Who", he says.

"When I was a lad back in the 1970s, it was Jon Pertwee who was the Doctor, and he was meeting monsters in familiar settings.

"It was more about fighting on your doorstep than in outer space."

Though he has been on many expeditions to places as far flung as central Africa and the Gobi dessert in Asia, Richard is keen to keep travelling the world and revealing yet more species of undocumented animals.

He said: "The CFZ is the only company in the world publishing books on mysterious animals.

"We're filling the gap with books on these animals and people having adventures looking for them."

The list of creatures he has been on the hunt for reads like a Who's Who – or rather a What's What – of mystical beasts.

Richard said. "In the past I've been on expeditions to find the naga, a giant snake in Indochina, and the orang-pendek, a small but powerful upright ape in Sumatra, in Indonesia.

"I've looked for the Mongolian death worm in the Gobi dessert, which is probably some kind of limbless reptile, and the ninki nanka, a dragon-like creature from western Africa."

For now Richard is back in the country and is coming up to South Tyneside on a double mission with his old friend, the Gazette's Wraithscape columnist, Mike Hallowell.

"We worked on a short-lived magazine together about 20 years ago, and have been friends ever since," Richard explained.

First stop on their mystery weekend will be West Boldon where they will visit the site of a murder and suicide which took place exactly 100 years ago, and about which Mike Hallowell has written a new book.

Though the tome's conclusions – and even title – are a closely-guarded secret, their subjects in their joint talk at the Alum House next Saturday definitely are not.

Called A Fright With A Pint, Mike will lecture about the local myth of the Trow Rocks lobster, while Richard will talk about his search last year for the Russian snowman, called the almasty.

Excited at the chance to inform people of his findings, Richard said: "We went looking for the almasty, which is a very primitive sort of man and might be a survivor of homo erectus.

"It's much more human than a yeti. If we can prove the almasty existed, it will be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.

"It also raises all types of ethical questions. Would they be treated like animals or humans?

"We brought back home bone, hair and dung samples, and one morning on an abandoned farm we had a close encounter with one."

With a book signing and a question free-for-all, it promises to be a wild night indeed.

Fright With A Pint starts at 7.30pm at the Alum House, Ferry Street, South Shields, on January 31. Entrance is £5, including a pint.

* For more details of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, visit its website here.