Adam Davies at the Weird Weekend 2011

CFZ expeditions organiser Adam Davies attended this year's Weird Weekend and spoke about the search for the Orang Pendek.

Readers of this blog will know that the CFZ team will shortly return to the wilds of Sumatra (next week in fact!) to continue the search for evidence of the Orang Pendek, the upright-walking ape seen for the past 100 years.

Watch on...and stay tuned for Orang Pendek updates in coming weeks.

Update: Sumatra 2011 - In Search of the Orang-Pendek

Details of the planning of the CFZ Sumatra expedition are almost finalised, and the trailcam fundraiser has been a great success, with four Bushnell trail cameras (aka game cameras) secured thanks to the generosity of CFZ supporters.

A big thank you to Glen Vaudrey, who drove the fundraising, and to Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson who have worked hard on planning the trip.

The team, as it stands, will comprise the following members: Dr Chris Clark, Richard Freeman, Dave Archer, Jon McGowan, Lisa Dowley, Andrew Sanderson, Rebecca Lang and Mike Williams.

The countdown to September has begun!

Meet the Cryptozoologist: Adam Davies

The fourth guest in our new Meet the Cryptozoologist series is UK adventurer and author Adam Davies.

Welcome Adam!

How did you first get involved in researching strange and mysterious creatures?
I first started tracking animals when I was a child. As a teenager, I watched Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Worlds `, and it mentioned that Professor Ivan Mackerle was going to hunt of the Mokele-Mbembe in the Congo. From that day on, I decided I was going too.

What were some of the early influences in your life?
Please see above, but I have also been influenced by other historical figures. As a boy I first read accounts of Stanley's journeys down the Congo. The accounts of Shackleton, and Mallory and Irvine were also inspirational. I have grown up with Sir David Attenborough's wonderful series of documentaries,and have been in correspondence with him recently.

Have you personally seen one of these creatures?
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 creatures particularly interest you?
I love looking for ‘Yeti’ type creatures, as I am fascinated about what we will learn by their discovery. Probably a lot about ourselves!! I also like Lake Monster investigations as well.

What cryptids are most likely to exist in your opinion?
The Orang-Pendek does exist, as does the Thylacine, ABCs, and the Seljord Serpent.I don't believe in all cryptids though - Chupacabaras are a no-no for me.

What’s your favourite?
My favourite is the Orang-Pendek. I am desperate to preserve the environment and prove its existence before it’s all destroyed. I feel a personal attachment there.

What’s your favourite Australian cryptid?
My favourite Australian cryptid is the Thylacine. I would like to look for that, and the Yowie.

Have you developed any theories around where the more unusual animals - i.e. yowies/bigfoot - have come from?
Yes - take a look at the article I have written for EdgeScience magazine, issue 7. It’s all there!

Have you written any books/articles?
Yes, I have written lots of articles, and one book Adam Davies Extreme Expeditions, Travel Adventures Stalking the World's Mystery Animals.

Do you have a website?
Yes - if you tap Adam Davies Extreme Expeditions in to Google, you will find my website http://www.extreme-expeditions.com.

How many mystery animal reports would you receive a year?
On average I receive about two a week, but they tend to come in flows. Nothing for a couple of weeks, then I'll receive three in one day.

What’s the closest you’ve personally come to finding something?
I have seen and was part of a team who's findings on the Seljord Serpent were analysed by the Marine research in Bergen institute as being from an unknown species. Over the years I have had scientists form the USA, Britain, Denmark and Australia anlayse field research, and evidence I have brought back on the Orang-Pendek. The conclusions reached have been 'unknown primate'. I always send my any of my findings off to be analysed independently by respected academics, who are at the top of their fields.

What’s the farthest you’ve traveled to go ‘in search of’ mystery animals?
I have travelled all over the world, literally! Mongolia, China, the Congo, Norway, Russia India and many more!

What’s next for you - any trips planned? Books or articles to write? Talks to give?
My next planned trip is to Sumatra again in September. I would also like to have a go at hunting for Sasquatch pretty soon, and I have started looking into that.

Could you share some of your favourite cryptozoology book titles with us?
I would rather do it by author. Everyone knows Sanderson, but for modern stuff, have a look at titles by Karl Shuker and Loren Coleman for some good background and science on cryptids. Redfern and Freeman are fun, entertaining reads. Have a look at both types of the genre.

What advice would you give anyone getting into the field of cryptozoology?
I would say , go for it,get out there and go on expeditions, it's immensely rewarding, and you will remember what you did every single day of your life. If you want help or advice, then ask me!

EdgeScience features Sumatra's Orang Pendek

CFZer Adam Davies, the expedition planner who is pulling together the 2011 Sumatra campaign, has written of his numerous trips to the area hunting the Orang Pendek for EdgeScience magazine #7.

Adam writes:

"But a serious consideration of the scientific evidence for the orang-pendek points in two directions at once. The structural analysis of the hair suggests either an orangutan, or something very closely related to an orangutan. The DNA analysis, on the other hand, points to a human or something very closely related to humans. But why can’t it be both?" 

You can download a free copy of the magazine from the website.

CFZ India Expedition report #5

Orang Pendek update - new species?

Danish zoologist Lars Thomas has finished his analysis of the suspected Orang Pendek hairs brought back from the 2009 CFZ Sumatra expedition - and it sounds very promising indeed!

Read all about it here: http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2010/11/lars-thomas-analysis-of-orang-pendek.html

CFZ India Expedition 2010

In Search of the Mande-Burung

On 31st of October the CFZ 2010 expedition leaves England. They will be exploring the Garo Hills in Northern India in search of the mande-burung or Indian yeti. The five man team

consists of Team Leader Adam Davies, Dr Chris Clark, Dave Archer, field naturalist John McGowan, and cryptozoologist Richard Freeman.

The creatures, are described as being up to ten feet tall, with predominantly black hair. Most importantly, they are said to walk upright, like a man. Walking apes have been reported in the area for many years. These descriptions sound almost identical to those reported in neighboring Bhutan and Tibet. Witnesses report that the mande-burung (which translates as forest man) is most often seen in the area in November.

The Garo Hills are a heavily forested and poorly explored area in Meghalaya state in the cool northern highlands of India. The area is internationally renowned for its wildlife that includes tigers, bears, elephants and Indian rhino and clouded leopards.

The Indian team will be led by Dipu Marek, a local expert who has been on the trail of the Indian yeti for a number of years and has found both its nests and 19inch long `footprints` on previous occasions. The expedition team has also arranged to interview eyewitnesses who have seen the Mande-Burung.

Camera traps will be set up in sighting areas in the hope of catching one of the creatures on film.
The Mande-Burung may be a surviving form of a giant ape known from its fossilized teeth and jaw bones, called Gigantopithecus blacki which lived in the Pleistocene epoch around three hundred thousand years ago. This creature is of course extinct.

However, much contemporary fauna such as the giant panda, the Asian tapir and the Asian elephant that lived alongside the monster ape, still survive today. It is thought by many that Gigantopithecus also survives in the impenetrable jungles and mountains of Asia. Its closest known relatives are the Orangutans of Sumatra and Borneo.

Last year the team, who investigate mystery animals all over the world, travelled to Sumatra in search of a small, bipedal ape known as the Orang Pendek. Dave Archer and local guide Sahar Dimus saw the creature and the group brought back hair that was later analyzed by Dr Lars Thomas at the University of Copenhagen. The DNA proved to be similar to an orangutan's, an animal not found in that part of Sumatra.