New Photo: Is It A Skunk Ape?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 7th, 2006
The cryptid anthropoid mentioned in the posting today entitled "Chimp Sighting = Skunk Ape?" is shown here.
Plus one station produced a news video on the story.
Link to video of cryptid anthropoid.
What do you think it is?
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.
At first glance, I don’t see any reason to think anything but chimp. Chimps obviously are not native, but when you have a choice between an animal of a known species in an improper place vs. a completely unknown species that looks much like the known species, the former is more likely.
Loren, my only question with this story is if indeed the “chimp” did walk up to her, why would she question what kind of animal this was. Anyone with a very basic knowledge of animal life would know exactly what a chimp looks like, if in fact this really is a chimp…
And now it starts again. I’m pretty sure it is a chimpanzee we’re seeing.
Its a blobchimp.
Ditto on the “chimpanzee” perspective. An “escapee”? And speaking of chimps there was an excellent program on PBS last night about the lives of chimps in captivity whether in the lab or just as pets. Worth watching. I suppose Bigfoot, Sasquatch and the ilk would suffer the same fate if we’re ever fortunate to capture one “live.”
At least this one’s not wearing rubber gloves. Chimp!
Anyone notice the gigantic leaf-monster lurking on the right side, watching the chimp?
Lights & shadows can be anything…
Thanks for posting the picture and video. My guess would be chimp too. If they can track it and the story down it will be interesting to see where it came from.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and vote Skunk ape. I could be way off base here but if Florida is believed to have Skunk Apes (not by the mainstream but come on… Florida is notorious for the skunk ape, we all know it) then why assume automatically that this creature is some exotic oop animal? The image is fairly low res so I don’t really see how you could conclusively say it’s a chimp anyway… sure it’s some kind of primate but it could just as easily be a large monkey.
There’s a witch head next to the leaf monster. Uhh…as far as the identity of the primate in the photo; could be chimp or what about a baby bigfoot/skunk ape? It seems sort of close to ground in it’s posture, so…
Looks like a chimp, I could be wrong, BUT wasn’t this a story out of the Carolinas somewhere?
OK, I watched the video (and found out it is from gulf breeze ) I still say it looks like a chimp . People need to understand that here in fl we have all kinds of primates running loose . If you go down the Hillsborough River and are one of the lucky ones you will spot a monkey or two , we have the Ocala area that has monkeys in the wild due to the old Tarzan movies that were filmed there . Then there are the monkeys that were turned loose or got loose from the many road side attractions from back in the day . So for me this case is solved .
Maybe it is a baby and someone in law enforcement killed and buried its mother, so it could capture it and sell it on ebay for $17 million…..wait…nope, it’s a chimp.
Going out on a limb here…but it looks like a Yarwen to me 🙂 Hey, wait, I think I see a truck with a rollbar….
Everyone is saying “chimp” only because of the lite toned face and hands, is that the only thing that has skin tone like this? I bet that’s all the closer the picture taker got, and why she also thought it was a chimp, and the zoo folks as well. They see chimps all day every day, so they see lite tan face and hands, YEP, ITS GOTTA BE A CHIMP.
Always relating to what they know.
One other thing, those 2 palms to the left, you can see they sit back a little, but not that far. Those palms are about 18-22″ across, as a FL resident I’m sure of this.
Here is a link to a local news clip – including an interview with the witnesses.
hey loren , thanks for posting this update article about this florida chimp. loren, are you planning on going to this area where this chimp was seen to talk to people have seen it. im just wondering. i like & agree with everyone above replys as well. bill
It’s Alf.
Without a doubt, it’s a chimp. Everything about it screams “chimp”. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’m not a dummy either.
Still keeping my fingers crossed, though.
From the comments I’ve read so far, no one thinks the face and hands are a little pale? Even at that distance, should chimp hands be that pale? They’re hairy, these hands look bald, like, oh, let’s say, a person. The “leaf monster’ that fuzzy saw, a perfect example of “Matrixing.” It sits like a chimp, it moves like a chimp, even though no discernible details rule out the possibility that it may NOT be a chimp. When your mind fills in the blanks, and comes to a conclusion based on limited visual information, that’s “Matrixing.” I’m not sure what it is myself, but something doesn’t sit right with me about the hands and head, so I can’t declare, chimp, blobchimp, blobsquatch or hoax until a clearer image is available.
Just as no one can eliminate the possibility that it *isn’t* a chimp — no one can eliminate the possibility that it just might really be a chimp.
Florida’s a weird place by any standards — and I say that fondly as a long-time resident of the state.
Gulf Breeze is near Pensacola — for the geographically challenged, that’s in the western Panhandle, south of Alabama.
Given the weather those folks have dealt with over the last two or three years, I’m saying that nothing is out of the realm of possibility — whether it’s a lost pet, an escapee, or…somethig completely different.
Incidentally — Google an image search of “chimpanzee” — you’ll see that the exposed skin color of the face and hands varies widely from very light to very dark — just like aother species I know of.
Legless Skunk Ape. What else could it possibly be?
Isn’t that the Grim Reaper over on the right?
I vote chimp, btw.
A lot of people here are saying it’s the (real) Skunk Ape. Is there a picture based on genuine sightings? (not those videos from the skunk-ape-shop-guy!)
Ya’ll crazy? It’s a turtle…
j/k
I’m setting my vote on a chimp though- even if I would love for it to be a skunk ape. It just seems to take on the look of a chimp more than anything.
Well, without a better view I can’t say with any sense of certainty what I think it might be. I will say that I put it into a photo enhancement to get a better idea of color and it just keeps coming out reddish brown. I don’t know of any chimps that are reddish brown. Orangs, maybe, but not chimps.
I can’t get the video to play: it keeps asking fro some plugin that my browsers, Firefox and IE7 can’t locate so I can’t watch it move.
Well this is just typical of the type of reaction you get to photos on this site. All i can say is that after enhancing this photo and looking at it in higher resolution..
Tarzan can be seen clearly swinging through the trees in the background and Jane is below him hang on to
Where is a 5 year old when you need a clear photo?
I believe that this is in fact a chimp. The lady who photographed it reported it as a ape, and not a hairy ape-like humaniod walking up right. All known Skunk ape sightings the creature in question has never walked up to somebody, in fact it usally runs away after being seen. This is an older chimp that was probably a pet. Chimp’s skin goes lighter as they age. We will probably hear about it in the news again real soon.
PS
I forgot to mention that if you listen closely to the video with the sound turned up.
Tarzan can be heard clearly in the background screaming Yooowie.
I think Michael let Bubbles out of his cage.
I understand that it is for people’s safety, but I found it interesting that the newscaster’s go through such great lengths to illustrate how dangerous and aggressive chimps can be, with a full story about a guy who got his face eaten off and certain parts of his body severed, how they have the strength of seven men, etc. This feels a bit like scaremongering to me. Probably not a good idea to have everybody in a complete, terrified panic because of a possible escaped chimp. And yes, I think it is very likely a chimp. The posture, the size from what I can see, the coloration (yes, they have individual differences, although the picture quality here doesn’t allow for seeing a lot of details), all see like a chimp to me. This is a poor photo and I would not rule out another explaination with more evidence, but I am going to explore more mundane explainations before jumping to conclusions. From what I see, a chimp is a good bet for now.
Wow! Great story.
Gulf Breeze, eh … I gotta say it:
It’s NOT a chimp – it’s a papier-mache model on a string. I’m 100% certain of it.
I’m sure the photographer has hidden the model in their attic and they are just seeking publicity for their carpentry business and if we check into their past we’ll find out they have a history of faking ghost photos.
SMiles
Anomaly Radio
You guys need to be serious. This is obviously an alien chimp that got left behind by the flying saucers. He’s was just going to ask the lady to use her cellphone to phone home.
For those that don’t understand SMiles’ in-joke above, please google “Gulf Breeze” and “hoax.”
My guess isn’t only based on the light color of the face and hands. I based my guess somewhat on the posture too – it sort of has a hunch like a chimp. Chimps are mainly knuckle-walkers, so their natural posture is sort of hunched over. This is reflected when they are in other positions, they sort of hunch over in other positions as well.
See the white box to the creature’s left and slightly behind? Now look straight above it in the trees.
Left side profile of a giant ‘Blue Meanie’ from Yellow Submarine, with teeth showing.
Not a chimp, the pose looks human to me.
I believe the correct term is “blobpanzee”.
Addendum Re SMiles
Just waiting for the editor of the Gulf Wheeze Clarion and Bugle to tell us he’s seen it as well, as have his mum, dad, au pair and Bedlington Terrier, and publish a TOTALLY convincing and fraud proof polaroid to prove it..
Human.
Not a skunk ape.
It is an interesting picture, but it doesn’t prove anything other than somebody has had a chimp as a pet and let it go. I’m voting chimp here.
Actually, to me, my choices are baboon or the skunk ape is learning how to play football. That is almost the perfect stance for a linebacker or something. From all the reports I’ve read, skunk apes are just that, apes. The are not anything lower that walks on all 4’s. I know, I know, all known apes walk on all 4’s, but we are talking about another group of sasquatch here. They walk upright like you and I. Probably just another crazy person in a gorilla suit trying to fool the world.
Looks like a chimp to me…
Occam’s razor suggests that this is probably a chimp that, for some reason, is in the area. But I am not willing to rule out the possibility that this is an unknown primate given the evidence we have. Certainly one would assume an unknown primate of this size and proportions would be a chimp. Interesting to see how this develops.
Definitely a skunk ape. I mean…this photo stinks!
It looks more like a long-haired monkey such as a colobus monkey, than a chimp.
All I can say to those who think that it’s odd to think “known primate” before “skunk ape” is: Occam’s Razor works in mysterious ways.
There are indeed populations of wild primates in FL, and no I’m not talking New Jersey Oldsters or Rednecks.
There’s at least one such population, of rhesus monkeys on the Silver River near Silver Springs. Saw ’em in 1990 on a canoe trip up the Silver. No, these are NOT the tame ones at the Tarzan Jungle Thingie at the Springs proper, although they’re apparently descended from animals that escaped that show. The behavioral differences are obvious; the wild ones stayed in the trees and wouldn’t let us within 100 yards. There’s all kinds of other possibilities for escapes; FL is just so much like Africa that some of us just couldn’t resist. Humans are so that way.
If it looks like a known primate, in FL, it almost certainly is.
Not that I’m saying for sure what this is. A clearer shot might be nice.
looking at the palms and other aspects of the background leads me to believe that this is alot larger than you might think at first glance