Finding Littlefoot? The Team of Finding Bigfoot Search For Orang Pendek Tonight [Video]

Editor’s Note: This is a post by Bigfoot Evidence contributor Vicki W.

Tonight's episode of Finding Bigfoot will be looking for the Orang Pendek in the thick and often treacherous jungles of Sumatra. Of all the cryptids out there, even skeptics admit this one has a fair chance at being validated as a genuine species. The shows "Monsterquest", "Destination Truth" and "Beast Hunter" have all attempted to locate orang pendek, (literally "short man") in past expeditions.

Why do people favor this cryptid for discovery over it's much larger possible cousin? Well, several researchers have actually had sightings for starters, including respected researcher Debbie Martyr. Additionally, there are photos and castings of footprints, a purported hand print as well as some hair. The animal is said to be approximately 3 feet tall with tan to orange hair and walks bipedally. Photographer Jeremy Holden caught a brief sighting but was unable to photograph it before it disappeared from view.

Naturalist Debbie Martyr was astonished to have gotten a quick glimpse of the animal.

"It walked straight across the valley in front of me, thirty meters away. So close! I didn't expect it. I certainly didn't expect to see it so clearly. It was walking between two trees, vegetation to about hip level. This gorgeous, graceful, very strongly built primate, a big ape, walking out of a legend and into broad daylight, lit up by the sun. If I'd seen it concealed in undergrowth, I could have said, "Well, I saw 'something'." But I didn't see "something". I saw an orang pendek... "
-Debbie Martyr

During an expedition for the Center of Fortean Zoology which included well known researcher Adam Davies another sighting occurred.

Upon returning to camp we heard amazing news. Earlier in the day Adam had heard a large animal moving through the forest, while in the distance siamang gibbons were kicking up a fuss. Sahar and Dave crept forward and were greeted with an amazing sight.

"Squatted in a tree around 100 feet from them was an orang pendek. They could not see the face clearly as it was pressed against the tree trunk. Dave felt that it was peering at them sideways. He saw the creature's eye rolling in alarm and could see large teeth in the bottom jaw. It had broad shoulders and long powerful arms, and dark brown, almost black fur. The hands and feet were not in view. The hair and shape of the head were reminiscent of a gorilla, but the high forehead was like that of an orang-utan. Dave said he was sure it was not a sun bear or a siamang gibbon.

From his vantage point Dave could not get a good photograph because leaves and branches were in the way. As he moved to get a better view Sahar saw the creature climb down from the tree and walk away on two legs. Adam said that Sahar had wept for 10 minutes because he did not have a camera to get a picture – he has been on the trail of the beast since 1997. Wildlife photographer Jeremy Holden saw the orang pendek briefly in Kerinci National Park and spent the next 15 years fruitlessly trying to get a photograph of it."

In the case of Orang Pendek it appears that verifying "Littlefoot" as a new species or perhaps a subspecies of known ape such as an orangutan or gibbon promises to be simply a matter of time and luck.