Orang Letjo
Alternatively Orang Pendek, Orang-Pendek (Little Man), Gugu, Sedapa, Sedabo, and Atu.
Meaning 'Gibbering Man' in the local language, it is, allegedly, another mysterious primate, this time from the island of Sumatra's jungles.
They are said to be ground-dwelling bipedal creatures, standing between three and five feet tall (a few reports describe slightly taller specimens), covered with short dark hair and a thick, bushy mane going halfway or farther down the back, and to have a smooth, hairless brown face. Track history seems to point to a divergent big toe, and they are believed to be mostly herbivorous.
Witnesses frequently mention the creature's startlingly humanlike appearance, thus its name. Sightings have been reported for centuries on Sumatra, but what is considered to be the first modern sighting happened in 1916, described in an article by Dr. Edward Jacobson. He stated that, while camped near the base of Boekit Kaba mountain, some of his scouts sighted the creature. He also claimed to have found some footprints at Mount Kerintji.
In October 1923 a Dutch settler named Van Herwaarden reported encountering one, and said that regardless being armed, he could not pull the trigger, suddenly feeling that he was going to commit murder, so close to human was the creature's appearance and manner.
Local folklore tells that these creatures walk with backward-pointing feet, to confuse anyone daring enough to track them. The local Kubu tribespeople also claim that unless tobacco was left for them at night, the Sedapas would go on the rampage, screaming and yelling as they destroyed the natives' camp.
In more recent times, Debbie Martyr — a prominent wildlife and primate researcher funded by Fauna and Flora International who has worked in Sumatra for over 15 years — has taken over the search for the elusive animal.
Debbie has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, collected several foot print casts that appear to be from an unknown primate, and, along with her collaborator British photographer Jeremy Holden, alleges to have personally seen the animal on several occasions while working in the forest.
Of cryptid primates, Sumatra's beast is probably the one closer to be found and added to our known species' zoological records.
See Orang Gadang, Agogwe, Abominable Snowman, Almas, Sasquatch, Yowie, Chemosit, Chuchunaa, Curupira, Higabon, Kaki Besar, Maricoxi, Bigfoot, Mapinguary, Yeti, Meh-teh, Nguoi Rung, 'X', Windigo, Wildman of China, Champ, Cryptid, Cryptozoology, Dragon, Loch Ness Monster, Giant Squid, Hydra, Kraken, Leviathan, Mokele-Mbembe, Sea Serpent, Sea-Wolf, White River Monster, Mysterious Primates, Love Spells -- Use these powerful love spells to help you find and keep your true love, Unbroken Curses, Mystic Gifts and Charms - New Age Gift Shop & Wicca and Pagan Supplies, The Chakra Store, The Tarot Store, Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies, Unique Amulets, Talismans, Good Luck Charms, and Love Tokens, Powerful Witch Doctor Spell Kits, Powerful Spells - Cast by Andreika the Witch, Webmasters Make $$$, AzureGreen - Celebrating All Paths to the Divine, and The Pyramid Collection - Myth, Magick, Fantasy and Romance.
Sources: (1) Anderson, Ivan T., Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life, Adventures Unlimited Press; (2) Wilson, Colin and Damon, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved, Carroll & Graf; (3) Heuvelmans, Bernard, On the Track of Unknown Animals, Columbia University Press; (4) Wilson, Damon, The Unexplained, Scarlet Books; (5) Clark, Jerome, Unexplained!, Visible Ink Press; (6) Clark, Jerome and Coleman, Loren, Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature, Fireside; (7) Into the Unknown, Reader's Digest Association, Inc; (8) Mysteries of the Unexplained, Reader's Digest Association, Inc; (9) Quest for the Unknown, Reader's Digest Association, Inc; (10) Strange Stories, Amazing Facts, Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
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