Monday, September 28, 2009

Orang Pendek Update

Richard Freeman and the CFZ team that traveled to Sumatra for two weeks in search of the Orang-Pendek are now back in Britain; and here's the text of a communication from Richard himself - to CFZ Director, Jon Downes - that was sent a couple of days ago:

"Hi Jon,

"We are just back from the jungle and have amazing news but don't release it till tomorrow when we will be out of Indonesia. Dave Archer and Sahar the guide saw orang-pendek!It was squatting in a tree around 100 feet from them. It was the size of an adult chimp and dark brown in colour. They could not see the face, hands or feet. Its head was shaped more like a gorilla's than a chimp's and it lacked the long mane of hair some witnesses describe. A darker strip was visible on the back. It had broad shoulders and the upper half of the body, including the head, was 40 inches (we measured afterwards). The coat was thick like a mountain gorilla's.

"We have hair samples and rattan that the orang-pendek was chewing on. Sahar saw it jump down and walk away on two legs. Dave missed a photo opportunity when he tried to get a better vantage point.We found and photographed very clear footprints in a different area but could not cast them as we couldn't get hold of any plaster of Paris. We collected many hairs from this area.

"Dampness screwed the moving camera's battery. It was virtually dead within 48 hours of us reaching Gunung Tuju. We took lots of photos. Dave's moving camera was drained by humidity too. We have some film but not a vast amount. We filmed a big cat sequence.

"Loads of adventures happened including almost sinking in flooded canoes, thinking we had OP cornered up a tree and clothes being soaked in raw sewage!The rattan will probably have OP DNA on it like a mouth swab. These are the best results from any expedition ever.

"Cheers, Rich."

Much more will be coming soon, so stay tuned!

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