Richard Freeman is one of Britain's few professional cryptozoologists. His interest in unknown animals reaches back to his childhood and he has had a long and varied career working with exotic animals. After leaving school he worked as a zookeeper at Twycross zoo in the Midlands where he became head curator of reptiles. During this time he bred many rare and endangered species. After leaving the zoo in 1990 he worked in several specialist pet shops and an animal sanctuary. All in all he has worked with over 400 species of animal.
He has travelled extensively in East Africa, Europe and the US studying the native fauna.In 1996 he took a degree in zoology at Leeds university and after graduation moved to Exeter to work full time at the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the UK`s only cryptozoological organisation.In October 2000 he visited the remote jungles, rivers, and caves of Northern Thailand in search of the Naga, a giant crested serpent said to lurk in the primal morasses of Indo-China and explored deep caves never visited by westerners before.His interests include collecting Batman comics, Doctor Who and other British television science fiction, Forteana and gothic rock music. He is currently working on a book on dragon legends worldwide.