Orang Pendek - dedicated thread

[William Parcher]

Malayan Tapir tracks...

 

[HarryHenderson]

But...but...but if those vague balls of who-knows-what could be attributed to Tapirs, then there would be no Maurice Sendak errr, I mean 'orang pendek'. And seriously The Shrike, what in the world would possess you to wanna give credit to the obvious-even-to-the-brain-damaged when a non-existent hairy ape-man beast is just so much more fun?!

"..The print is to be sent for independent analysis, but furthers the body of evidence for Orang Pendek. Unidentifiable hairs also found in the immediate vicinity are to undergo similar independent testing..." Really? Apparently it's automatically considered 'orang pendek evidence' if they didn't actually see what made it. And they're gonna get it 'independently tested' regardless because, well, just because. And 'independently tested' by whom? Loren Coleman?

I can do but very little nowadays except shake my head.

 

[The Shrike]

I guess I'm just optimistic that there are well-meaning people who have honestly misinterpreted sign of known animals, and that's what gets them caught up in some of these phenomena. So when I see (or hear) something that seems relevant, I get excited.

In this case, these "handprints" just look so dumb and not at all what I'd envision an "orang pendek's" hand to look like that I gave some thought to other creatures in those forests that could leave an impression like that. It took me about 30 seconds to find a tapir print that looked 5-toed. Check out the one in the middle of the left photo from Parcher's post above. That's qualitatively and quantitatively different from these handprint impressions exactly how?

 

[William Parcher]

Check out the one in the middle of the left photo from Parcher's post above. That's qualitatively and quantitatively different from these handprint impressions exactly how?

FWIW, that track and others in the photos appear to be oversteps. The rear foot is placed into the track of the front foot. You could get five or more digits that way.

 

[The Shrike]

FWIW, that track and others in the photos appear to be oversteps.

I agree, but I'm not even sure an overstep would be necessary. Just a "smudgy" forefoot print I think could cause confusion too.

 

[William Parcher]

The Wikipedia entry for Orang Pendek is interesting because although it refers to OP as a cryptid it does not state that it may be a mythical creature like Bigfoot. It is strictly treated as an unknown biological phenomenon. As I stated before this is working with the apparent theme of "no hoaxers in Sumatra".

Possible explanations:

Three possible explanations of Orang Pendek's identity are prominent: that all sightings can be explained as the mistaken identification of local animals; that witnesses of Orang Pendek are describing a previously undocumented species of primate; and that a species of early hominid still lives in the Sumatran jungle.

Mistaken identity

Many locals say Orang Pendek's feet look like those of a child, evidenced by foot prints they have found while walking through the forest. However, another local animal, the Sun Bear, is a possible source of these sightings. Bears in general are known for having feet that look quite human-like, and the size of a Sun Bear's are similar to those of a child. In addition, gibbons populate the forests in this area and are known to occasionally descend to the ground and walk for a few seconds at a time on two legs. Witnesses could possibly be seeing orangutans; however: 1) this species has long been thought to have died out in all but the northern regions of Sumatra and 2) witnesses almost never describe the animal as having orange fur.

Undocumented primate

Orang Pendek's reported physical characteristics differentiate it from any other species of animal known to inhabit the area. All witnesses describe it as an ape- or human-like animal. Its bipedality, fur coloring, and southerly location on the island make orangutans an unlikely explanation, and its bipedality, size, and other physical characteristics make gibbons, the only apes known to inhabit the area, unlikely as well. Many therefore propose that Orang Pendek could represent a new genus of primate or a new species or subspecies of orangutan or gibbon.

Surviving hominid

As far back as Mr. van Heerwarden's account of Orang Pendek, people have speculated that the animal may in fact be a "missing link" (a hominid representing an earlier stage in human evolution). In October 2004, scientists published claims of the discovery of skeletal remains of a new species of human (Homo floresiensis) in caves on Flores (another island in the Indonesian archipelago) dating from as recently as 12,000 years ago. The species was described as being roughly one meter tall. The recency of Homo floresiensis' continued existence and the similarities between its physical description and the accounts of Orang Pendek have led to renewed speculation in this respect.

 

[William Parcher]

One of the main people promoting and researching OP is Adam Davies. He's been on multiple OP Sumatra expeditions including the most recent. Check this out...

Have you personally seen one of these (cryptid) creatures?

Davies: Yes, I have seen the Seljord Serpent in Norway. It was amazing! Perched on my little boat, I had the most incredible adrenaline buzz as we chased after it. I felt like Captain Ahab!

What cryptids are most likely to exist in your opinion?

Davies: The Orang-Pendek does exist, as does the Thylacine, ABCs (alien black cats), and the Seljord Serpent. I don't believe in all cryptids though - Chupacabaras are a no-no for me.

Bio...

Adam Davies has tracked so called Mysterious Creatures all over the globe. His adventures include being shot at in the Congo whilst looking for the Mokele –Membe the Congo dinosaur, and being arrested by the Mongolian army as a spy whilst hunting the fabled Death Worm!

Adam sincerely believes that some but not all of these fabled creatures exist, and embarks on filed research in order to substantiate this. He has also had some fantastic successes, with scientists confirming his finds as "remarkable" and "astonishing" in the case of both the Sumatran Yeti and Norway’s Nessie.

Remarkably to date, Adam’s expeditions have been entirely self funded. . He has been featured and or presented some very enjoyable documentaries including "Russian Bigfoot" on the National Geographic Channel and "The Real Hobbit" and "China's Wildman" on the History Channel's Monster Quest series. Adam would love to pursue his passion full time, but at present works as a Civil Servant in Manchester U.K.

He's not even trying to see if these things exist at all in the first place. He says that they do!

 

[DennyT]

Everywhere that rich white explorers have gone, indigenous peoples have been happy to take them on wild goose chases for money.

ProTip for David Paulides: I do not except the Hupa from this generalization.

 

[icerat]

I had to look up the Seljord Serpent and I found this video.



At first I tried hard to see the serpent, but I think I must have misunderstood, it wasn't a film of the serpent, it was a film by the serpent ....

 

[The Shrike]

Everywhere that rich white explorers have gone, indigenous peoples have been happy to take them on wild goose chases for money.

But what about all those former cryptids that the natives guided the explorers to? You know, all those many species like bigfoot that the native people knew were there for centuries but the white men never found on repeated forays because they lacked the stones to really get into the wilderness? You know, like mountain gorillas and saolas?

 

[Drewbot]

Here is a video about Te Kaka, a sea monster near New Zealand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6e_FpW7le4&feature=relmfu

 

[icerat]

New Orang pendek article up in the Guardian -

Have we found evidence of the elusive orang pendek?

On one trek, on the far side of the lake – an area with damper, thicker jungle – Sahar's brother John found a print next to a rotting log that had been ripped apart. Orang pendek have been seen feeding off grubs in such logs. The print was cast by Andrew Sanderson using quick-drying dental plaster. Close by, Sahar found a number of hairs, which Adam preserved in ethanol for later laboratory analysis.

They didn't sound confident of getting any DNA from hair follicles, but are getting it tested.

This part was .... interesting ....

Sahar told us of another creature that may inhabit the deep jungles. The orang kardil, or "tiny men", are said to be a race of humans around three feet tall, quite distinct from the larger, simian orang pendek. The orang kardil apparently go naked in the jungle, are hairless except for their heads and hunt with poisoned bamboo spears. They are notorious for stealing food.

Makes me wonder how much the locals are getting paid to act as guides ....

 

[Drewbot]

someone eats more than they are allocated, but instead of admitting it, they blame the little men.

 

[William Parcher]

New Orang pendek article up in the Guardian -

Have we found evidence of the elusive orang pendek?

That is Part 3 of the article I have been linking.

The orang kardil apparently go naked in the jungle, are hairless except for their heads and hunt with poisoned bamboo spears. They are notorious for stealing food.

The Ebu Gogo is another Indonesian legend from Flores and is also a food stealer.

The Ebu Gogo are believed to have been hunted to extinction by the human inhabitants of Flores. They believe that the extermination, which culminated around seven generations ago, was undertaken because the Ebu Gogo stole food from human dwellings, and kidnapped children.