Page 83 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysterious Creatures 63

On October 23, Idaho State University utan (“man of the woods”), sometimes referred
issued a press release stating that a team of to as the “Sumatran Yeti.” According to tradi-
investigators, including Dr. Meldrum; Dr. tion, the first recorded sighting of orang pendek
Grover Krantz, retired physical anthropologist dates back to 1295 when Marco Polo
from Washington State University; Dr. John (1254–1324) saw it on one of his expeditions to
Bindernagel, Canadian wildlife biologist; John the island. While many naturalists regard the
Green, retired Canadian author and longtime tales of the orang pendek as native folklore, in
Bigfoot hunter; and Dr. Ron Brown, exotic ani- 1916 Dr. Edward Jacobson wrote in a Dutch sci-
mal handler and health care administrator, had entific journal of his encounter with one of the
examined the plaster cast obtained from the creatures. Since Jacobson’s sighting, there have
mud wallow and agreed that it could not be been many accounts of people seeing the orang
“attributed to any commonly known Northwest pendek, including that of a Mr. van Herwaar-
animal and may present an unknown primate.” den, who spotted one while scouting the forests
According to the university press release, for good lumber in 1923. Most witnesses
after the cast had been cleaned, “extensive describe the creature as standing about five feet
impressions of hair on the buttock and thigh tall and as being covered with short dark hair. It
surfaces and a fringe of longer hair along the is definitely bipedal, and its arms are propor-
forearm were evident.” In addition, Meldrum, tioned more like that of a human, rather than
associate professor of anatomy and anthropol- the extended arms of an ape. Remarkably, the
ogy, identified what appeared to be “skin ridge orang pendeks have been heard conversing with
patterns on the heel, comparable to finger- one another in some unintelligible language.
prints, that are characteristic of primates.”
While the cast may not prove without ques-
tion the existence of a species of North Ameri-
can ape, Meldrum said that it “constitutes signif- THE orang pendek may be the most likely of the
icant and compelling new evidence that will Bigfoot-type creatures to be proved to be real.
hopefully stimulate further serious research and
investigation into the presence of these primates
in the Northwest mountains and elsewhere.”
Debbie Martyr, former editor of a London
newspaper, went in search of the elusive Suma-
M Delving Deeper
Bord, Janet, and Colin Bord. Unexplained Mysteries of tran apeman and returned in March 1995 with
the 20th Century. Chicago: Contemporary Books, numerous consistent eyewitness accounts of the
1989. orang pendek and plaster casts of its footprints.
Byrne, Peter. The Search for Big Foot: Monster, Myth or She stated that she even saw the creature for
Man? Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, 1976. herself on three occasions. The first time that
she sighted the orang pendek, she admitted
Coleman, Loren. Mysterious America. Boston: Faber
that she was so shocked that she didn’t snap a
& Faber, 1985.
picture. She hadn’t really expected to see an
———. “Top Cryptozoolgical Stories of the Year
actual bipedal erect primate. She remarked that
2001.” The Anomalist, January 4, 2001. [Online]
the orang pendek is wonderfully camouflaged
http://www.anomalist.com/features/topcz2001.
because its colors correspond to those of the
html.
forest floor—beige, tawny, rust red, yellow tan,
Green, John. On the Track of the Bigfoot. New York:
and chocolate brown. If the creature remains
Ballantine Books, 1973.
immobile, she said, it is impossible to see.
Sanderson, Ivan T. Abominable Snowmen: Legend
Come to Life. Philadelphia: Chilton, 1961. The orang pendek may be the most likely
of the Bigfoot-type creatures to be proved to
be real. Too many scientists have heard its
Orang Pendek
calls, followed its trails through the jungle,
Sumatra has an ancient tradition of apemen and caught glimpses of the creature. On Octo-
known as orang pendek (“little man”) or orang- ber 29, 2001, the London Times reported that

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