Cryptomundo
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A Calgary man who has spent a decade tracing the movements of an elusive ape-like beast — widely considered a myth — believes he has DNA evidence suggesting bigfoot is alive and romping through Canadian forests.

Todd Standing said a strand of hair he plucked from a tree in southeastern British Columbia has unusual DNA sequences that must be linked to the legendary sasquatch.

The hair sample was tested by a lab in Thunder Bay, Ont., which concluded it was human, but Standing rejects the conclusion and interprets the results differently. He believes his long-standing hunt to prove bigfoot’s existence is gaining tremendous momentum.

And he’s looking for geneticists to verify his findings.

“This is a perfect sample, uncontaminated,” he said. “It cannot be mine, and it cannot be another human being’s. And, in fact, in all the knowledge that I have, and everybody I’ve spoken to, it can’t even be a known primate.”

For years, Standing has made it his mission to convince the masses that bigfoot is not a myth, but an undocumented species of primate that walks on two legs.

Under his arm he carries a laptop filled with photographs and reams of research he said are proof of the legend. He has appeared on television and Internet radio programs. And he has taken scientists into backcountry research sites where he believes the beast thrives.

Les Stroud, host of the reality television show Survivorman, joined Standing in expeditions and was stunned by giant footprints, unidentified whooping sounds and other bizarre happenings.

Jeffrey Meldrum, a professor at Idaho State University and a bigfoot believer, was also encouraged by what he saw and heard when hiking through the woods with Standing, though he never came across the legendary creature.

At one site near Radium Hot Springs, B.C., Standing said he leaves apples out in the wilderness only to find them devoured hours later.

“I can’t say I’ve trained them … I’ve habituated them to take food gifts from me.”

About two months ago, he said, one of the mysterious creatures left behind a strand of hair. Standing submitted the sample to Paleo-DNA Laboratory, part of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Three tests concluded the hair matched human genes. The lab also compared the strand to the DNA of chimpanzees — the closest genetic relative of humans — and found it matched, to varying degrees.

“Based on my results, it looks like it’s human hair,” said Stephen Fratpietro, who conducted the tests. “That’s what every indication has led me to believe.”

Standing doesn’t see it that way. Based on all that he has read about DNA sequencing on the web and in scientific journals, he said he cannot find another confirmed species of primate with the same genetic makeup.

The bigfoot believer said two sets of results, one confirming a 100 per cent link to humans, another finding an 85 per cent match to chimp DNA, are unusual and inconsistent with what he has learned about documented species. He said the 15 per cent gap is too big to be human.

Fratpietro, who won’t deny bigfoot exists because “anything’s possible in science,” said DNA strands are rich with genetic information and, depending on where you look, the gaps between chimp and human DNA can vary.

“There’s nothing that says it’s not human.”

Standing is now on the hunt for another professional DNA lab that will test the hair and determine whether he is the man behind the latest sasquatch hoax or the only man with concrete evidence the beast exists.

But he faces an uphill battle.

“No faculty and no university supports the reality of unicorns, supports the reality of Santa Claus, and that’s how they feel about sasquatch,” he said.