Orang Pendek

Attributes

• Ground-dwelling^{[1][2][3][5][6][7]}
• Bipedal^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}
• covered in short, grey-to-brown fur^{[2][3][4][6][7]}
• 80 cm to 150 cm tall^{[1][2][3][5][6][7]}
• divergent big toe (i.e. separated from other toes as a thumb is from the other fingers)^[4]
• largely herbivorous^[7]

Other reports

• blackish-brown,^[7] red-brown,^[5] golden-brown,^[7] yellow,^[7] or orange^[4] fur
• short-legged with long, powerful arms^[3][7]
• seen in trees^[1][7]
• inverted feet, to hide direction of travel^[7]

From Debbie Martyr

Debbie Martyr – a prominent Orang Pendek researcher who has worked in the area for over 15 years, has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, and alleges to have seen the animal personally on several occasions—gives the following description:

...usually no more than 85 or 90cm in height—although occasionally as large as 1m 20cm. The body is covered in a coat of dark grey or black flecked with grey hair. But it is the sheer physical power of the orang pendek that most impresses the Kerinci villagers. They speak in awe, of its broad shoulders, huge chest and upper abdomen and powerful arms. The animal is so strong, the villagers would whisper that it can uproot small trees and even break rattan vines. The legs, in comparison, are short and slim, the feet neat and small, usually turned out at an angle of up to 45 degrees. The head slopes back to a distinct crest—similar to the gorilla—and there appears to be a bony ridge above the eyes. But the mouth is small and neat, the eyes are set wide apart and the nose is distinctly humanoid. When frightened, the animal exposes its teeth—revealing oddly broad incisors and prominent, long canine teeth.^[3]

Reported dietary habits

Sightings by locals often take place in farmland on the edge of the forest, where Orang Pendek is allegedly seen walking through fields and raiding crops (especially corn, potatoes, and fruit).^[5] Locals with experience in the forests claim that Orang Pendek seeks out ginger roots,^[9] a plant known locally as "pahur" or "lolo", young shoots, insects in rotting logs, and river crabs.^[7] The Durian fruit is also thought to be a favourite of the Orang Pendek.^[10]

Names

Orang Pendek and similar cryptids from this area of the world are also referred to as Uhang Pandak (local Kerinci dialect), Sedapa,^[1][3] Ebu Gogo, Umang,^[2] Orang Gugu,^[6] Orang Letjo, Atoe Pandak, Atoe Rimbo, Ijaoe, Sedabo, and Goegoeh.^[11]

John of Marignolli

John of Marignolli (1338–53) was one of earliest persons mentioned the existence of hairy humanoid in Southeast Asia. When he visited the Kingdom of Saba (which could be interpreted as Java or Sumatra), he seldom caught sight of hairy men, who would flee into the forest when they perceive anyone coming. They did a great deal of work, sowing and reaping corn and other things, and people may trade with them by putting items in the middle of a path. Then the purchasers go forward and deposit the price, and take what has been set down. This description, however, may refer to more humanlike cryptid from the region, like the Siwil. John concludes that:^[12]

"...these monsters are not men, although they may seem to have some of the properties of men, but are merely of the character of apes; (indeed if we had never seen apes before we should be apt to look upon them as men!); unless forsooth they be monsters such as I have been speaking of before, which come of Adam's race indeed, but are exceptional and unusual births."

— Giovanni de' Marignolli

Suku Anak Dalam

The Suku Anak Dalam ("Children of the Inner-forest") – also known as Orang Kubu, Orang Batin Simbilan, or Orang Rimba—are groups of nomadic people who have traditionally lived throughout the lowland forests of Jambi and South Sumatra. According to their legends, Orang Pendek has been a part of their world and a co-inhabitant of the forest for centuries. Benedict Allen, author of Hunting the Gugu, writes that these groups frequently leave offerings of tobacco to keep the Orang Pendek happy.^[6]

In Bukit Duabelas, the Orang Rimba speak of a creature, known as Hantu Pendek (short ghost), whose description closely matches that of Orang Pendek. However, Hantu Pendek is thought of as a ghost or demon rather than an animal.^[13] According to the Orang Rimba, the Hantu Pendek travel in groups of five or six, subsisting off wild yams and hunting animals with small axes. Accounts of the creature claim it ambushes unfortunate Orang Rimba hunters traveling alone in the forest. Along the Makekal River on the western edge of Bukit Duabelas, people recount a legend of how their ancestors outsmarted these cunning yet dim-witted creatures during a hunting trip. The legend is often used to boast of the intellect and reason of people who live along the Makekal.

Local villagers

Local Indonesian villagers provide the largest source of lore and information on Orang Pendek. Hundreds of locals claim to have either seen the animal personally or can relate stories of others who have. While the conjectured physical description listed above is consistently reported by this group, other, less credible characteristics such as inverted feet or magical- or ghost-like behavior are also reported.^[3]

Dutch colonists

Dutch settlers in the early 20th century provided Westerners with their modern introduction to Orang Pendek-like animals in Sumatra. Two accounts in particular are widely reported:

• Mr. van Heerwarden, who described an encounter he had while surveying land in 1923:

I discovered a dark and hairy creature on a branch... The sedapa was also hairy on the front of its body; the colour there was a little lighter than on the back. The very dark hair on its head fell to just below the shoulder-blades or even almost to the waist... Had it been standing, its arms would have reached to a little above its knees; they were therefore long, but its legs seemed to me rather short. I did not see its feet, but I did see some toes which were shaped in a very normal manner... There was nothing repulsive or ugly about its face, nor was it at all apelike.^[1]

• Mr. Oostingh, who saw a strange creature while walking in the forest:

I saw that he had short hair, cut short, I thought; and I suddenly realized that his neck was oddly leathery and extremely filthy. "That chap's got a very dirty and wrinkled neck!" I said to myself. His body was as large as a medium-sized native's and he had thick square shoulders, not sloping at all... he seemed to be quite as tall as I. Then I saw that it was not a man. It was not an orang-utan. I had seen one of these large apes a short time before. It was more like a monstrously large siamang, but a siamang has long hair, and there was no doubt that it had short hair.^[2]

Western researchers

The most widely known Western researcher to have attempted to document Orang Pendek is a British woman named Debbie Martyr. Along with British photographer Jeremy Holden, she engaged in a 15-year project beginning in the early 1990s and funded by Fauna and Flora International. The scope of the project was to systematically document eye-witness accounts of the animal and to obtain photographic proof of its existence via camera-trapping methods. Debbie and Jeremy did not succeed in proving its existence (Martyr has since moved on to head TNKS:s Tiger Protection and Conservation Unit), but they collected several foot print casts that reportedly appeared to be from Orang Pendek and claim to have personally seen the animal on several occasions while working in the forest.^[3]

From 2001 to 2003, scientists analyzed hairs and casts of a foot print found by three British men—Adam Davies, Andrew Sanderson and Keith Townley—while traveling in Kerinci.^[14] Dr. David Chivers, a primate biologist from the University of Cambridge, compared the cast with those from other known primates and local animals and stated:

...the cast of the footprint taken was definitely an ape with a unique blend of features from gibbon, orangutan, chimpanzee, and human. From further examination the print did not match any known primate species and I can conclude that this points towards there being a large unknown primate in the forests of Sumatra.^[15]

Hans Brunner, an Australian hair analyst, compared the hairs to those of other primates and local animals and suggested that they originated from a previously undocumented species of primate.^[15] Dr. Todd Disotell, a biological anthropologist from New York University, performed DNA analysis on the hairs and found nothing but human DNA in the sample. He cautioned, however, that contamination by people who handled the hairs could have introduced this DNA or that the original DNA could have decomposed.^[16]

Beginning in 2005, National Geographic funded a camera-trapping project in TNKS led by Dr. Peter Tse of Dartmouth College that attempted to provide photographic documentation of Orang Pendek. The project ended in 2009 without success.^[16]

A number of television programs and documentaries about the creature have been made^[17], with the most recent being an episode of the Animal Planet series Finding Bigfoot featured the Orang Pendek, with members of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization traveling to Sumatra to investigate the creature.

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.^[3]

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. Orang Pendek could represent a new genus of primate or a new species or subspecies of orangutan or gibbon.^[3]

Surviving hominin

As far back as Mr. van Heerwarden's account of Orang Pendek, people have speculated that the animal may in fact be a hominin. 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 perhaps as recently as 12,000 years ago (later revised to 50,000 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.^[1]

Investigations

• National Geographic expedition to camera-trap for Orang Pendek, July 2006
• "Short Man of the Forest: The Search for Orang Pendek" from the Banyak Films, June 2006
• International Monkey Hunter, investigation into the Orang Pendek story
• Fortean Times article
• Pat Spain's "Beast Hunter", National Geographic Channel
• Guardian Science Notes September 2011

General Information

• The Cryptid Zoo: Orang-Pendek
• Sultan and the Mermaid Queen. Paul Spencer Sochaczewski. Editions Didier Millet. 2008. ISBN 978-981-4217-74-3. Includes several chapters on orang pendek, ebu gogo, sedapa and other “snowmen of the jungle.”
• Dunning, Brian. "Skeptoid #77: Orang Pendek: Forest Hobbit of Sumatra". Skeptoid.

Related

• Bipedalism in orangutans, from August 2007 issue of Scientific American