New Evidence of Yeren
Posted by: Loren Coleman on May 25th, 2008
At Don Keating’s Ohio Bigfoot Conference last weekend, the M. K. Davis presentations on the Patterson-Gimlin footage and the furor caused in the wake of the “Patty was shot” theory were not all that happened there.
One presenter’s recent activities were overshadowed by the Davis “massacre theory.” That specifically was the news shared by Jeff Meldrum, Ph. D., who is a tenured Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology and Adjunct Associate Professor of the Department of Anthropology at Idaho State University.
Jeff Meldrum is shown second from the left, last weekend in Ohio, along with other speakers at the Bigfoot conference, courtesy of the Daily Jeffersonian and also in the following photo, courtesy of Eric Altman/Henry May.
Meldrum had just returned from China, and here’s how the local Ohio paper captured what Meldrum said about that:
Dr. Jeff Meldrum presented his findings from a recent trip to China researching the Yeren, one Asian creature similar to Sasquatch, Bigfoot and the Yeti.
Meldrum said he spoke with witnesses to the Yeren in a rugged, mountainous and wet (as much as 870 inches rainfall annually) interior region of the country. He accompanied the director of an amateur research group and was able to examine two superb plaster casts of tracks. The tracks, he said, showed the effects of a stride by a creature with a foot physiology different from that of a human. This type of stride can be seen in the Patterson-Gimlin film, further substantiating claims that the creature cannot simply be a human actor in a suit.
(Source: “Expert: ‘Bigfoot’ film not a hoax,” by Dan Davis, The Daily Jeffersonian, Cambridge, Ohio, Monday, May 19th, 2008.)
Henry May also summarized what Meldrum said, and here’s a brief part of what May writes, specifically on the Asian trip:
He has just returned from China for filming an episode of Monsterquest to investigate the Yeren. The origins of Bigfoot were discussed, as to whether it is Gigantopithecus or not (Meldrum says it is at least a strong candidate). Dr. Meldrum hooked up with Xio Xu Xiang [sic, it really was Zhou Gouxing – LC] to research the Yeren, which lives in the Hubai and Shennogjia Provinces….According to Dr. Xiang, the Wildman is not the same as Sasquatch so far as size (it is a little shorter, ala Orang Pendek)….Dr. Xiang is not convinced that the Yeren and Giganto are the same thing, and the official position of the scientific community is cool and somewhat nonchalant. Meldrum showed a slide of a Chinese footprint cast which resembles a cast made in Washington State by Paul Freeman. Henry May
Adam Davies is shown, above, with a 2004 cast of an Orang Pendek track.
Also along on that excursion with Meldrum to China was cryptozoologist Adam Davies, who actually was behind firming up the “Monster Quest” funding for the trip. Davies is the author of a new book (below) on his past trips in search of cryptids. Besides the tome being filled with his funny and interesting insights on daring creature encounters, drinking, and dating, Davies details his remarkable fiscal penny-pinching and travel packages to extend his global adventures. Extreme Expeditions is highly recommended reading for world travelers of the cryptozoological kind or anyone interested in sharing such treks from the comfort of your home.
Extreme Expeditions: Travel Adventures Stalking the World’s Mystery Animals by Adam Davies (NY: Anomalist Books, 2008).
Davies feels that he and Meldrum brought back good news from their efforts in search of the Yeren.
The evidence from the sightings of the Yeren generally speaks of two types of unknown hominoids being reported – one might be a relict population of orangutan and the other a form of Sasquatch found in Asia – as shown in the diversity of drawings of the Yeren.
Davies returned from China with some new thoughts on what he found going on there. He told me that he had used my and Patrick Huyghe’s field guide and its Harry Trumbore drawings (see at bottom) with eyewitnesses, to determine what was being seen.
He wrote: “Yours and Patrick’s book was very useful indeed.”
Other physical evidence was gathered, as well, including the casts Meldrum mentioned, and hair samples.
Adam Davies shown during his documentary film trip seeking Almas in Mongolia.
Davies emailed me, expressing caution because of the documentary television contract he has to honor, but did share this:
The trip was “highly successful” but I am unable to say anymore until the evidence we found is properly analysed. We still are awaiting the results of hair samples.
My view before I went was that Yeren was most likely to be an archaic species of Orang-utan. However, I tend to be much more general now and say it is bipedal, it is an unknown very large primate, but beyond that I cannot say.
Dr. Meldrum was very specific on camera; there was no doubt at all. He much linked it to Sasquatch, and talked about similarities between the two.
I’m looking forward to the other tests, but they will take at least a month to come out.
Adam Davies
Harry Trumbore’s drawing (directly above) of the Chinese Yeren in The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates (page 131, 2006) shows the creature as much more anthropoid than in most contemporary renderings, illustrating one version of the recent sightings.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
This will be a interesting episode of Monster Quest. Since that huge earthquake that hit China, I believe. At least Meldrum and Davies said they found evidence of the Yeren. Looking forward to the new season of Monster Quest!
I’m noticing that the big toes of the yeren sticks out to the side (according to the pictures drawn I’ve looked at). I wonder how many of them were based on actual evidence or eyewitness account, or if the people are hearing the stories and automatically drew them like the orangutan in some ways.
They might draw them that way because of the footprint molds they have taken.
This is a very informative new article about new evidence of the Yeren. thanks bill green
Who knows what else might come out of China now that that massive earthquake has displaced many “known” waterways, trails and other such natural highways. As more and more international help is let in, which brings news crews and many hand-held camcorders, the coming weeks and months or even years as they clear the rubble away could be very interesting as far as discoveries that could be made. Who knows what they will uncover!!
I am convinced there’s something to be found out there. See my latest comments on “Yeren steaks beer”.
Last comment should read “Steals” not “Steaks”