September 29, 2009
News from the rainforest of Sumatra concerning the new sighting of an Orang Pendek and the gathering of evidence is quite encouraging. Here’s an update.
Extreme Expeditions author and cryptozoologist Adam Davies recently returned with a new group of explorers including Chris Clark, Dave Archer, and Richard Freeman, from Sumatra. They had been in search of Orang Pendek, as first mentioned here, on September 8, 2009.
A previous field drawing of the Orang Pendek based on Debbie Martyr’s and others’ pre-2009 sightings.
Expedition organizer and multiple time adventurer into the area, Davies knows the local people well, and had, previous to departure, re-established contact with the Kubu people. The Kubu and their headman, who aided Davies’ team, have seen the creature in the rainforests often.
The group of British individuals, some invited by Davies from the UK’s Centre for Fortean Zoology, made some interesting discoveries, as mentioned earlier here, in German also, and in today’s CFZ release:
Dave Archer and local guide Sahar saw the creature at a distance of around 100 feet as it squatted in a tree. Dave describes it as broad shouldered, with a large head, black skin and dark brown hair. A line of darker fur was visible on the spine. He likened the coat of the creature to that of a mountain gorilla. Sahar saw the creature jump down from the tree and walk away on its hind legs. It was the size of an adult male chimpanzee.
Next to the tree was some rattan vine that the animal was apparently chewing. Expedition leader Adam Davies [corrected ~ not “Davis,” as the CFZ has misspelled his name twice, at least ~ LC] has preserved part of the plant in ethanol in the hope that it contains cells from the animal’s mouth.
The team also found and photographed several sets of tracks made by creatures.
Chris Clark shared with Cryptomundo the following:
The creature was seen in a tree, at some distance, through branches and vines; Dave was peering round them rather than walking about looking for a better spot. Sensibly, he chose to watch orang pendek for the few seconds it was in view rather than take the traditional bad picture that would probably have focused on a leaf. This, not any camera problems, is the reason there is no photo. We hope to deploy better evidence than a mere photo.
Following an animal through the Sumatran jungle if it wants to get away (it seems to have been alarmed by a nearby tiger) is of course impossible.
Continuing with some more from the new release from CFZ, there is this:
Richard Freeman confirmed that they matched no known creature in the area. The prints were six to seven inches long with a narrow heel and wider front. The big toe is well separated.
Hair samples were taken…from a tree close to the tracks. A number of the hairs contain medullas that [may] contain orang-pendek DNA. The samples will shortly be sent off to experts around the world for analysis.
If the samples turn out to be from a new species Freeman suggests the scientific name of Pongo martyri in honour of the English researcher Debbie Martyr who has done more than anyone else to look into this zoological mystery.
[It may be premature protocol to publish the scientific name in print (as may happen with this CFZ press release) of any new species not verified, as that very act may negate its use in a formal way in the future.]
Another Martyr-data-generated drawing.
The release ends…
Footage from the expedition and from the Irish lakes are being submitted for inclusion in a major BBC documentary about the CFZ, which is being made by Minnow Films, an award winning British film production company, over the next eight months.
As noted here previously, the Irish video almost certainly shows birds, not “anomalous animals.” This even appears to be the conclusion now arrived at by the CFZ. The Irish video episode might not be the best recent event to link to the news of the sighting of an anthropoid from Indonesia.
The Sumatra expedition was first organized by Adam Davies (not “Davis” as the CFZ mistakenly notes today and in a previous release).
Clark also brings up a good point:
There are of course orangutans in Sumatra, but they are at the northern tip of the island. Kerinci is south of the Equator.
BTW, this is not a time to get distracted by minor matters, such as the original Davies brief mention of the word “Yeti.”
Shorthand use of “Yeti” and “Bigfoot” frequently happens with the media when talking about Orang Pendek, Yowie, and Yeren, in my experience. In some of the earlier CFZ releases on the Orang Pendek, they called it a “Yeti.” I understood what Adam Davies was talking about, and did not make as much of the use of “Yeti” and “Orang Pendek” on the fly, from the tired expedition leader who was coming out of the jungle, as some have.
We applaud this new effort and look forward to what results are brought forward from the rainforests of Sumatra on the Orang Pendek.
Please click on the image for a larger version of the photograph.
Above is the Adam Davies-Andrew Sanderson-obtained Orang Pendek field cast, from September 2001. The original of which was shown in the Bates College Museum of Art cryptozoology exhibition in 2006, held in conjunction with the International Cryptozoology Museum. A first generation copy will be shown in the new public location of the museum.
Join the past patrons in supporting the International Cryptozoology Museum as it opens in downtown Portland, Maine.
Please click on the button below (not the one up top) to take you to PayPal to send in your museum donation.
If you wish to send in your donation via the mails, by way of an international money order or, for the USA, via a check (made out to “International Cryptozoology Museum”) or money order, please use this snail mail address:
Loren Coleman, Director
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Thank you, and come visit the museum at 661 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101, beginning November 1, 2009!!
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.
Filed under Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Expedition Reports, Extreme Expeditions, Orang Pendek