[Isabel C.]

So, for hundreds of years these creatures have been able to elude every camera and every credible observer?

The first camera made for the general public wasn't available until 1888. And what do you consider a "credible observer".

[djf]

That’s very much along the lines of the comment above about why aren’t these things in zoos.

Zoos as we know them are pretty recent phenomena.

And up until a hundred years or so ago, the kind of fellow who traveled in the west was the kind of guy who would shoot first and ask questions later.