Posted on 02/27/2006 8:25:18 PM PST by blam
Evidence of 'jungle yeti' found
By David Green
BBC News Online, Manchester
Adam Davies plans to write a scientific paper on the discovery
Fresh evidence has been found in the jungles of Sumatra supporting claims that a mythical 'jungle yeti' may exist, claim two UK explorers. Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson found footprints which seem to match examples they found three years ago, which were shown to be from a new species of ape.
The orang pendek, as it is known, is said by islanders to walk like a man.
The pair, from Stockport and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, now plan to write a scientific paper on their discoveries.
The new evidence was found in the Bukkantingi area of the island.
The pair found new footprints similar to the one they found in 2001
Mr Davies and Mr Sanderson also claim they tracked the creature to within 500 metres but were unable to follow it into dense jungle.
Three years earlier, they found hairs and prints which were analysed independently by scientists and shown to be from an unknown species.
They have now discovered evidence of the creature's existence in separate parts of the island.
Mr Davies told BBC News Online: "When we arrived in Bukkantingi, we were told by the villagers that they had seen the orang pendek only two days earlier.
"They said they had seen it eating soft fruit in farmland on the edge of their village.
The orang pendek is said to have red-brown hair and walk like a man
"We made base camp there and, two days later, one of our Indonesian guides heard it calling.
"We set after it and found new prints which we made casts of and which matched the prints which we discovered on our last trip.
"The prints had been made that day, our guides told us, and we also heard it calling, but were unable to capture it on film as it was in dense jungle.
"But I think we were at least within 500 metres of it."
Mr Davies said the pair now planned to write down their discoveries and send them to a primatologist at Cambridge University who analysed the original prints found in 2001.
But he said the habitat of the creature, if it exists, was under threat from illegal logging which had destroyed large areas of jungle since their previous visit.
I am sure that they also live in North Florida. I only need $100,000.00 to start a serious expedition. All investors will recieve mention, and an autographed photo!
Yep - John of the Jungle.
Didn't want to mention it before, but I've caught glimpses of an orang pendek in the woods behind my house. No doubt, given a little financial incentive, I could locate some footprints back there....
He makes the rounds of all the rich widowed macaques.
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DNA is convincing. It isnt easy to fake, it would usually show. Not impossible, but still.
And there are bound to be many small monkeys out there that havent been classified yet.
I dont get why people are so suspicious? I guess it is like a programmed response against the 'yeti' association.
The would have better make it a more firmer statement that it wasnt supernatural.
Neandertal guy. Over here! *ping*
All this time later, they still don't know if the hairs came from a genus homo or a red-haired chimp? Hmmmm.
Methinks somebody doesn't like loggers.
They revealed at the end of the program I was watching that they were 'ordinary' human hair.And, a foot expert said the foot castings could not have come from a bipedal creature. So...(keep looking)
There is a respectable looking/sounding PhD guy who has begun a ten year program of installing 50 heat and motion sensative cameras in the jungle. After one month of picture taking, he has some interesting pictures of all kinds of known creatures but no Orang Pendek. He intends to check the cameras every month for ten years.
I wish we had been shown better shots of those casts. Its true that we were shown little but based on what he said (at least what was preserved after editing) and the little we were shown, Im afraid that I could not have come to the same conclusion that they were not from the same kind of creature (Im not saying that they were from a Pendek).
The interview, such as it was presented, has him start by dismissing any similarity based on dissimilarity of length/width ratios between the casts and the way the creature of the one cast poked its toes into the front of the print. He then went on to allude that the longer flatter cast was a hoax based on the "misplacement" of the thumblike big toe.
Firstly, I would say that the length/width ratio and toe poking issue was ridiculous as presented. The long flat one appears as though it may have been made in damp compacted sand or a dry loamy area moistened by a flash rain, clear and relatively shallow with the substrate supporting the weight of the body through the stride. The short wide one appeared more like a footprint made in soaked clay or swamp edge muck, deep and ill-defined with a shortened, arch kinked "toe down" print at the bottom of the track hole. I couldnt help but to get the feeling that if he had seen a cast of your footprint from a relatively dry field edge and my bare footprint from a swamp that he would have said we were different species.
That leaves the thumb toe issue that was flat out foolish, once again, at least the way it was presented. Place your hand palm down on a table and imagine a heel bone extension, its would be the same as that print. That kind of thumbtoe placement is exactly what should be expected mechanically if the creature in question had a diet similar to small frugivorous monkeys but on a creature of larger size. Apes spend most of their time feeding and socializing closer to the ground and they travel there so ground travel feet are required. Small monkeys may spend several days engaging in all of lifes activities in a single tree, when its time to move they can go from one small branch to another to transfer to a new tree. A large frugivorous monkey would regularly and quickly deplete the food in any given tree. Trees with enough food to make it worth transferring to wouldnt necessarily be tip to tip with another and the greater weight of the monkey would mean that branch tip transfers werent possible anyway. Now we would have a monkey that is required to regularly walk distances of some significance on the ground but would also be required to regularly "walk" up and down trees and then acquire a secure multipoint purchase to feed in case the strength of one branch failed.
My final point was an extensive rant about the difference between academics and researchers, that I don’t think that this guy could find his way around a park, and that a big game guide would have been a better “expert” if a researcher type couldn’t be found but my browser crapped out and Im irritated so Im stopping now.
Anyway, if what I thought I saw is what I thought I saw then they may not have found a human relative but may have found new monkey equivalent of an orangutan...
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