CFZ Sumatra Expedition 2011 kicks off!

Bags have been packed and flights caught. We rendezvous with our British colleagues within the next 24 hours and head off into the jungle.

Will we find the Orang Pendek, or evidence of the elusive creature? 

Stay tuned!

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.

Preps for Sumatra 2011 underway

Preparations have commenced for the Sumatra expedition now that some key aspects of the trip have been finalised - namely the purchasing of tickets!

And while Mike is the pinnacle of fitness, Rebecca has some work to do in the fitness department that includes regular rigorous bushwalks and weight training.

We're going into some pretty challenging terrain choc-a-bloc full of tigers (you know, SUMATRAN tigers), leopards, snakes, giant spiders (Rebecca's favourite) and orang-utans. In other words, we'll be strolling into some of the most biologically diverse terrain on the planet!

But the Orang Pendek isn't the only mystery animal hiding out in the jungles of Indonesia.

In 2005 the World Wildlife Federation's game cameras captured a still of a strange little red-furred carnivore (pictured below), nicknamed the 'Bornean red carnivore', the identity of which remains a mystery for now.

So you see, there will be more than enough to keep us busy while we look for the little hairy man!

Beast Hunter chases Man Ape of Sumatra

We've just watched the new episode of Beast Hunter: Man Ape of Sumatra - wow!

It certainly gave us a taste of what we're heading in to - the dense jungle, changeable weather, the many wild creatures we'll be keeping company with, and some of the risks involved.

The episode is one of several in a new series hosted by Pat Spain, an American wildlife biologist with an enthusiasm for cryptozoology (and a distant relative of Charles Fort, no less!).

Pat explores the terrain, chats with locals, interviews witnesses - including Debbie Martyr, a resident ex-pat Brit who has seen the animal and now devotes much of her time to cataloguing sightings - and sets up camera traps with resident wildlife photographer and witness Jeremy Holden.

While an enjoyable program, with a great host, it has to be said - it is mildly irksome the way these TV shows fall into the familiar rut of continually ignoring the people (and research) that precedes them.

Instead of reinventing the wheel for the purposes of television, it would have added something to the program had the crew explored the angle of the hair samples and footprints already collected and analysed (Adam Davies/CFZ in 2005 and 2009), especially considering the episode had such a science focus for the host. Just a thought for next time guys!

Despite that criticism, it was a great episode and a very promising television show. Looking forward to the rest of the series.