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The four-strong team and their Indonesian guide were tracking through dense jungle in Sumatra when two of them caught a glimpse of the famous Orang Pendek — or short man.

The group brought back a hair sample and a piece of chewed palm from the island’s Kerinci National Park they hope will provide DNA evidence of the beast.

They also snapped a strange footprint thought to belong to the creature.

Sightings of the hairy human-like monster have been made in the area since colonial times — and it is alleged to be immensely powerful.

The explorers hope the sample of rattan palm, which is thought to have been munched on by the Orang Pendek, will contain some of its cells. The palm and hair sample have been sent for testing.

Elusive

Witnesses have described the beast as being about 5ft tall and say that it walks on two legs.

It is thought to be extremely powerful — with reports of onlookers seeing it ripping apart logs.

After a spate of sightings around Lake Gunung Tuju, in the Kerinci national park, a team from the Devon based Centre for Fortean Zoology — which investigates unknown species of animals — embarked on a two-week mission to the region to see if they could obtain evidence of the creature.

The elusive Orang Pendek shares its habitat with the Sumatran Tiger, pythons, and Saltwater crocodiles.

Richard Freeman, the expedition zoologist and zoological director at the Centre for Fortean Zoology, said he believes the creature is an unidentified species of ape.

“We are not talking about a unicorn or a griffin, we are talking about an ape that’s unknown to science,” he said.

“It’s name means ’short man’ in Indonesian.

“It’s supposed to be a powerfully built upright walking ape.

“It walks on two legs rather than four – like a man, about five foot tall with dark fur – immensely strong.

“It’s been seen since colonial times.

“It’s quite possible that in some museum there are skull and bones of the Orang Pendek that have been labelled orangutan.”

The team, who have just returned from their two-week expedition, hailed it a success and are awaiting the results of the DNA tests.

Source: thesun.uk

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) is the world’s largest mystery animal research group. Only a week after releasing footage of what appears to be anomalous animals in an Irish lake, a group of four British explorers and scientists from the CFZ have just returned from the jungles of Sumatra having spent two weeks in the rainforest on the track of the orang-pendek, an unknown species of upright walking ape. They have brought back some incredible news.

CFZ member 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 Davis 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. Expedition zoologist 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 the team hopes will 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.

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.

Source: cfzsumatra09