The Amarillo Zoo Creature: 10 Other Questions That Need Answers

On June 8, the City of Amarillo tweeted a snapshot from a surveillance camera of a mysterious-looking creature caught lurking outside the fence of the Amarillo Zoo. Well, maybe lurking is too strong a word. Maybe all it was doing was walking right on by.

Anyway, thanks to coverage from national news like CNN and Today to local coverage like the Houston Chronicle, the story of the mysterious Amarillo Zoo creature soon went viral. And the obvious question any reasonable person might ask after seeing the photo is, “What is that?”

Or, as the City of Amarillo termed it, “What is that UAO (Unidentified Amarillo Object)?”

Which was a cute play on UFO/UAP, sightings of which are also common in Texas. They do rank as the #4 state with the most UFO sightings. (Speaking of UAPs, there was also news relating to that last week. NASA announced it’s launching a study team to examine unidentified aerial phenomena. In case you missed it.)

But here are 10 other questions that also need answers in the case of the mysterious Amarillo Zoo creature.

1. Why did the City of Amarillo tweet the photo? Doesn’t the zoo use Twitter?

A quick visit to the Amarillo Zoo’s website revealed that the only socials they have listed are Instagram and Facebook.

That answers half of the question, but not the other half, which we’ll actually dive even deeper into in #8 below.

But one thing I discovered by clicking the employment link on the zoo’s site was that it led straight to the City of Amarillo. I’m not sure how zoos work. I know some are privately managed, but perhaps Amarillo Zoo is managed by the city? If so, that would explain why the city shared the creature’s photo.

It also appears the City of Amarillo shared it in the spirit of fun. Here’s what Michael Kashuba, the City of Amarillo’s (COA) director of parks and recreation, said in a statement obtained by People:

“We just want to let the Amarillo community have some fun with this. It is important to note that this entity was outside the Amarillo Zoo. There were no signs of attempted entry into the zoo. No animals or individuals were harmed. There were no signs of criminal activity or vandalism.”

2. Did the Amarillo Zoo share the story about the creature on any of its socials?

It didn’t on Instagram, but it did on Facebook. Sort of. It shared a KFDA News Channel 10 story wondering what the “Unidentified Amarillo Object” might be. And the zoo lamented how it was that creature instead of one of its many others that was making the zoo go viral.

Which, to be fair, it hadn’t exactly done yet at that time. Unless the zoo had conspired to send out media blasts and were pretty confident the story would get picked up? That again leads to #8 on our list of questions.

3. Why wasn’t it reported sooner?

Allegedly the security camera captured the image at 1:25 a.m. on May 21. Why did it take two and a half weeks before they decided to share it publicly?

Maybe it took that long to review the footage and spot the creature? Or maybe it took that long to conceive of what we’ll question in #6?

4. If a security camera caught it, why is it only a photo and not video?

As someone pointed out on the zoo’s Facebook post about the creature, photos can be manipulated. Where’s the video, especially if it was taken by a security camera?

The Amarillo Zoo tried to clear it up with this reply:

“The area pictured is on the far side of our bison enclosure where there is vast open space. As a result we have game cameras around those far perimeters where there is a lack of internet. These are standard game cameras that take a shot with when movement is detected. Nothing more, nothing less. Hope that helps!”

5. Speaking of the photo, what’s up with it?

If you zoom in and look closely at the photo, especially the head, it looks like there are two faces, one facing front and one turned as if looking at the camera. I consulted Michael Joseph of Joseph Photography, one of my photographer friends, about what kind of glitch or effect may have caused that. (Unless, of course, the Amarillo Zoo creature is even freakier than people know and has two —or more!— faces!)

Anyway, could it be shutter drag? Multiple exposures? Strobo effect? A combo of some or all of that?

6. Has the Amarillo Zoo creature appeared on any other cameras? (Be it another zoo camera or elsewhere.)

I’m assuming since they only shared the one photo that the creature didn’t appear on any of the zoo’s other cameras. Maybe it will and maybe it’ll be clearer next time? Or maybe it’ll show up on another camera somewhere else?

Hopefully the residents of Amarillo are checking their Rings…

7. Maybe it’s not of planet Earth? Could it be an alien?

For obvious reasons, werewolf and chupacabra are what most people speculate the creature is. But other top contenders are a man dressed up in a costume, a coyote, or a raccoon standing up.

It could be any one of those or something else. For instance, did anyone check to see if there were any UFO sightings around the same time? Maybe it was just an alien trying to pay an after-hours visit to the zoo? After all, as I stated above, Texas is no stranger to UFO incidents…

8. Is this a publicity stunt?

It sure has all the markings of one.

KFDA News Channel 10 posted the “Unidentified Amarillo Object” story on June 8 at 9:47 a.m. At first, I suspected the City of Amarillo had seen the story and had shared it. However, the opposite is true. The City of Amarillo shared the story.

Is the city trying to drum up tourism for both itself and the zoo? No judgment here if they are. I would’ve totally headed to Amarillo in search of the mysterious creature this past weekend if (a) it was a shorter drive (it’s 13.5 hours from Nashville) and (b) if Southwest flew there.

But will others flock there to try and spot it? Will it end up on a show like Paranormal Caught on Camera and raise visibility for the city? (See how one question leads to another, and then another?)

9. How long will it take before spoofs of the Amarillo Zoo creature start popping up?

Not long. On June 12, KSAT.com reported that the San Antonio Zoo had also recently shared a photo on their social media. Like the Amarillo case, it was of a “strange creature” captured “overnight on security camera footage” wandering in Brackenridge Park.

The article then went on to say, “Based on the photo, the creature appears to have four short and stout legs, a large rotund body and a large nose. To the casual eye, it almost appears to resemble one of the zoo’s famous hippos. Could it be Timothy?”

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, “It sure looks like a hippo to me.”

But this spoof also proves just how easy it is to manipulate a photo.

10. Will we ever learn the truth?

Only time can answer this one.

The Tweet about the Amarillo Zoo Creature

The Amarillo Zoo captured a strange image outside the zoo in the dark and early morning hours of May 21 (around 1:25 a.m.). Is it a person with a strange hat who likes to walk at night? A chupacabra? Do you have any ideas of what this UAO- Unidentified Amarillo Object could be? pic.twitter.com/86Ly9ogtBT

— CityofAmarillo (@CityofAmarillo) June 9, 2022

YouTube Clip of CNN’s Report about the Amarillo Zoo Creature

Check-In

What are your thoughts on this? Is it a creature, a hoax, or a glitch of the system that’s making it look so scary? Or something else?