Don't forget to watch tonight at 9/8c, Caddy the Sea Serpent

Sea Serpent of the North

For generations, fishermen have told tales of sea monsters. One of the world's most legendary monsters is a sea serpent known as Cadborosaurus, or "Caddy," which has been reported off the coast of British Columbia for more than a century. But to science, it doesn't officially exist. Now Pat travels to Vancouver Island to track it down. He questions eyewitnesses, explores the myths of the coastal people who have occupied the area for more than 5,000 years and confers with top oceanographers.

Caddy the Sea Serpent

This weeks episode of Beast Hunter will include a creature called Caddy the Sea Serpent. Here is some information on the creature.

Facts Behind the Cadborosaurus
Sightings and tales of an alleged sea serpent off the coast of British Columbia have dated back to over a century ago, before the arrival of the Europeans. Depictions of sea serpents are common in native petro glyphs seen along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The Cadborosaurus, or, as it's been nicknamed, Caddy, has been described by witnesses as more or less fifty feet in length with a large snake-like body. Beast Hunter Pat Spain travels to Vancouver Island, British Columbia to seek out the truth behind this legendary creature. Below are some interesting facts related to his hunt.

The name for the alleged local sea serpent Cadborosaurus, Caddy for short, was coined in the Victoria Daily Times on October 11th 1933 in honor of Cadboro Bay in Victoria, Vancouver Island where the creature was allegedly first sighted.

Despite being called "killer whales," Orcas (Orcinus orca) are in fact the largest members of the dolphin family, and are highly sociable creatures, living in pods and clans ranging from 5 to 40 individuals. Sizes range according to different geographical locations, and researchers often divided them into resident and transient pods as well. Active and opportunistic, killer whales are without a doubt one of the top predators in the ocean. In fact, they are one of the largest warm-blooded predators ever known.

There are four species of oarfish, but it is the Regalecus glesne or "King of Herrings" that is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish alive; the maximum reported length of the oarfish is 36 feet, though there have been unconfirmed reports of ones 56 feet long. They are very rarely sighted as they live at depths of around 600 to 3,000 feet, and are only found at the surface when sick or dying.

The oarfish swims by undulating its long dorsal fin while its body remains straight — referred to as an amiiform mode of swimming. It was also recently filmed by an ROV in the Gulf of Mexico swimming in a vertical position, in what is believed to be a method that the oarfish uses when searching for its prey.

The Census of Marine Life is a ten year study across the globe deploying a network of researchers in more than 80 nations in a definitive effort to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans.

Since the Census of Marine Life began in 2000, researchers have added more than 5,600 species to the lists. The census already includes a total of more than 16 million records. Census officials estimate there may be over a million more sea plant and animal species yet to be discovered. By contrast, biologists have described only about 1.5 million terrestrial plants and animals in total.

The Lion's Mane jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, is described as the largest jellyfish in the world, sometimes reaching eight feet in diameter.

Despite its size and reputation, a sting from the Lion's Mane jellyfish can not kill a human (unlike certain species of box jellyfish) but merely causes a painful rash and a burning sensation. In fact the best treatment for the stings from a Lion's Mane jellyfish is simply an application of vinegar.

The coastal waters around British Columbia are famous for their abundant marine wildlife. Seals and sea lions are a familiar sight including the stellar sea lion — the world’s largest — which can grow to nearly 10 feet long. Orcas, porpoises, dolphins and many species of whale, including the blue whale, can also be found in the North Pacific.

The Basilosaurus (Basilosaurus cetoides) belonged to an extinct group of whales that lived 40 to 34 million years ago. It grew 40 to 65 feet in length, and was the largest known animal of its day. With an elongated body and sharp teeth, it's been described as the closest a whale ever came to a snake, and its bones were first mistaken for a sea serpent's.

Just over 70% of our planet is covered in water, but we've only explored about five percent of our oceans. Oceans cover 140,000,000 square miles out of a total surface area of just under 200,000,000 square miles. The average depth of the ocean is about 12,000 feet. It is at these depths that many new species remain undiscovered.

The deep sea is the Earth's largest continuous ecosystem and largest habitat for life — it is also the least studied.

Next weeks episode of Beast Hunter

Next weeks episode is called "Sea Serpent of the North". This episode features a creature called Caddy the Sea Serpent in Vancouver, British Columbia. Heres the official description.

For generations, fishermen have told tales of sea monsters. One of the world's most legendary monsters is a sea serpent known as Cadborosaurus, or "Caddy," which has been reported off the coast of British Columbia for more than a century. But to science, it doesn't officially exist. Now Pat travels to Vancouver Island to track it down. He questions eyewitnesses, explores the myths of the coastal people who have occupied the area for more than 5,000 years and confers with top oceanographers.

'Beast Hunter' Pat Spain credits TV show with saving his life

Click here for the original source.

It sounds overly dramatic, particularly for a scientist, but Pat Spain of National Geographic's "The Beast Hunter," says, "I have been saying that show saved my life."

He called Zap2it first to explain what happened and urged people to be advocates for their own health.

"The Beast Hunter" which launched last week, had Spain searching for the ape man in Sumatra. Turns out he found much more in the remote Indonesian island, where he climbed mountains, hiked through jungles and rowed across a murky lake, in a volcano.

"I was soaking wet for almost two weeks," Spain says. "I started getting trench foot and was covered in leeches."

He's not complaining as much as explaining. Then he got really sick with a stomach bug and was in violent pain -- in the middle of nowhere.

"Because of that, when I got back figured I would go to the doctor to get checked out," he says.

Spain, 30, eats organic, locally grown food, works out daily and neither smokes nor drinks. He was diagnosed with colon cancer, and has since had complications because of the surgery.

Unaware that March is Color Cancer Awareness, Spain urges people to talk to their doctors and get tested.

His message: "Absolutely early prevention. It is such a preventable cancer. You can have it removed as a polyp before it ever develops into a cancer. So if anybody is experiencing anything GI -- anything -- don't ignore it, and be your own advocate when you go to the doctor."

The first two episodes aired last Friday and tonight the third is scheduled.

Spain has more surgery, due to complications from the first, but is anxious to get back to his adventures.

"This show was obviously one of the greatest things that ever happened to me," he says. "I never imagined it would actually, in reality, save my life."

Loren Coleman reviews "Beast Hunter"

Look, Pat Spain is no Josh Gates, and “Beast Hunter” is not “Destination Truth.” Frankly, I find that encouraging.

Gates is an entertainer, a likable actor with a good personality, who has been turned into the host of a program that deals with topics ranging from cryptids to ghosts, from spirit animals to haunts. There is nothing routinely cryptozoological about “Destination Truth,” actually, although I don’t hold that against it or Gates. But one should not fool yourself into thinking that DT is pure cryptozoology.

On the other hand, “Beast Hunter” is exactly that. It is hosted by a biologist and cryptozoologist, Pat Spain, who is an everyman, an ordinary cryptozoologist who has been thrust into the limelight on this program because of his interest in tracking unknown animals. There’s a lot to like about Spain and the approach this program has taken.

Read his full review here.

New Beast Hunter Tonight at 9/8c

A new episode of Beast Hunter airs tonight. This episode is about the Mokele-mbembe, which is a "river monster".

Swamp Monster of the Congo
Ever since the earliest missionaries and explorers returned from Africa, stories have been told of strange water-dwelling monsters living in the Congo Basin. The native Pygmy tribes speak of the Mokele-mbembe, an animal with a long, thin neck and a body the size of an elephant that seems to resemble a sauropod dinosaur. Could there be a population of dinosaurs living in the remote jungle?

Pat Spain on Twitter and Facebook

Pat Spain has been posting updates on both Twitter and Facebook. Follow him today!

Pat Spain - Twitter
Pat Spain - Facebook

Interview with Pat Spain - Weirld.com

Pat Spain answers questions about the show in the Weirld.com interview.

Looking a bit like Justin Timberlake with an easy grin and an enthusiasm that’s infectious, Pat Spain is a wildlife scientist with a special interest in crypto-zoological creatures, ones that may or may not exist, and he’s traveled the globe to investigate them for the new National Geographic Channel series Beast Hunter, premiering Mar. 4. Having grown up the middle of three kids in Wynantskill, New York and earned his Bachelor of Science from Suffolk University in Boston, Spain created a Web series called Nature Calls in 2005, which ultimately put him on Nat Geo’s radar. “I’m so excited to be doing this and it means a lot that other people are getting interested in it too,” he says. He had a lot more to say in the following conversation.

How does your show differ from others, such as History Channel’s Monster Quest?
I feel like a lot of these shows rely on the ‘we just don’t know’ factor, quick camera turns and ‘what was that?’ Blair Witch style stuff. It’s a quest for an animal without doing the upfront work. I’m not saying it specifically about Monster Quest but a lot of these shows really bother me, like when it’s a diurnal animal and they go out with night vision cameras, looking for it at night. And they don’t call it by the correct regional name. What’s different about our show is that we’re doing an initial reconnaissance mission. We’re saying. ‘Should science look closer at this creature? Is there real evidence that this is there?’ On the investigations we were doing, if we stumbled across something it would be great but we didn’t go out there with collecting kits. This is more about learning the plausibility of this creature.

Read the full interview here.

Wearing a Glove of Venomous Ants

Clip from "Beast Hunter: Nightmare in the Amazon" when Pat Spain sticks his hand into a glove of bullet ants.

About the Mokele-mbembe

The next episode of Beast Hunter goes in search of the Mokele-mbembe. Here is some information on the creature.

Facts Behind the Mokele-Mbembe
Ever since the first missionaries and early explorers returned from the dark heart of Africa, there have been stories told of strange, water-dwelling monsters living in the forests of the Congo basin. Natives of the area, the Pygmy tribes, speak of an animal roughly the size of an elephant with a long thin neck — they call it Mokele-mbembe. Beast Hunter Pat Spain travels deep into the inhospitable Cameroon jungle to investigate if there is a logical, scientific explanation to these stories. Below are some interesting facts related to his hunt.

The translation of Mokele-mbembe is 'one that stops the flow of rivers.'

In 2008, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society discovered a previously unknown population of 125,000 western lowland gorillas living in the Republic of Congo. Previously, scientists had estimated the number remaining in the wild to have been only about 50,000.

The Dzanga Forest Elephant Study now in its 21st year is the longest ongoing study of forest elephants, Loxodonta cyclotis. Researchers have identified over 3,000 elephants in a "bai" or forest clearing.

The Dzanga Clearing in the Central African Republic attracts more forest elephants than any other clearing in the Central Africa region. On any given day, 40 to 100 elephants can be seen, whereas forest elephants are otherwise hard to find in the dense tropical forest.

Elephants are present in the Dzanga clearing 24 hours a day and are attracted to the area by the availability of mineral salts, which are found below the surface of the clearing. During the dry season, when the surface of the clearing is drier, the elephants dig holes making minerals available to other animals, including forest buffalo, bongo, giant forest hog, and red river hogs.

The Baka tribe is traditionally nomadic but has recently become less so due to the rate of deforestation, which is increasingly depriving the pygmies of the natural resources essential to their survival. The forest is the basis of their entire culture.

The Baka religion is animist; they believe that every living thing has a spirit or a soul. Generally they live in peace and harmony but can also fear retribution from the spirit world, for any wrongs committed.

Baka people have no written history so all stories and beliefs are passed down through the generations through songs and stories.

The herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were the largest animals to have ever inhabited the land, reaching upwards of 50 tons. Their huge sizes may have been in part due to their long necks which allowed them to reach food that would otherwise be inaccessible to other, smaller creatures.

Fossilised sauropod teeth have been found in the Koum Basin in Cameroon, so large dinosaurs did therefore once roam through this region.

The Congo Basin covers 700,000 square miles across six countries and constitutes one fifth of the world's remaining closed-canopy tropical rain forest. It contains a vast range of biodiversity including over 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds, and 400 species of mammals, including three of the four species of great apes.

Many rare and unusual creatures have been identified in the Congo Basin such as the Okapi and the Bonobo, and new discoveries are being made each year. In 2008, Harvard scientists uncovered a new species of frog that, when threatened, punctures its own skin with its bones, which then act as claws.

Next weeks episode of Beast Hunter

I hope everyone liked the show last night. I've heard good reviews of the show so far. Next weeks episode(Fri March 11) will be featuring a creature called the Mokele-mbembe, which is basically an alleged lake monster. Heres the decription from the Nat Geo website.

Swamp Monster of the Congo
Ever since the earliest missionaries and explorers returned from Africa, stories have been told of strange water-dwelling monsters living in the Congo Basin. The native Pygmy tribes speak of the Mokele-mbembe, an animal with a long, thin neck and a body the size of an elephant that seems to resemble a sauropod dinosaur. Could there be a population of dinosaurs living in the remote jungle?

Beast Hunter premiers tonight at 9/8c

Beast Hunter premiers tonight on Nat Geo starting at 9pm/8c. They are showing two episodes right away. The first is "Man Ape of Sumatra" which includes the Orang Pendek. The second episode will follow right aftertitled "Nightmare of the Amazon". This episode includes the Mapinguari. For more information on either episode check out these previous blog posts here and here.

I also found a pretty good commercial discussing the series below.

Song from Beast Hunter commercial

A lot of people have been asking about a song from one of the Beast Hunter commercials being shown on Nat Geo. I was able to find the song on YouTube. The song is "Hunter" by 30 seconds to Mars.

'Beast Hunter' Pat Spain talks creature conservation

Pat Spain shares a little about his life and the upcoming series.

Read the full article at http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/beast-hunter-pat-spain-talks-creature-conservation.

New Nat Geo show host, Pat Spain, works hard to share his passion for animals.

"Eating local and organic is a huge thing for me," says wildlife scientist Pat Spain, host of National Geographic Channel's new series "Beast Hunter," and an avid supporter of marine life and animal conservation groups like the World Wildlife Fund. As a crypto-zoologist specializing in strange creatures that just may be real rather than mythical, he's especially interested in what you might call monster conservation. "An area, a massive reserve, was just dedicated in the Himalayas for the Yeti," he points out. "Crypto-zoology benefits biology in ways that I think a lot of people don't realize. One of the main aspects of getting an animal named and in the public eye is it could lead to more conservation."

Pat Spain's Memoir on Charles Fort

My Great Uncle Charles Fort
By Pat Spain


It's interesting. I didn't know Charles Fort was my relative until long after I had developed a love for the unknown and for science in general. It's almost like it was in my DNA.

My parents tell stories about me collecting bees while I was still in diapers despite getting stung over and over, or bringing me to the New England Aquarium and having to physically move me from exhibit to exhibit because I would stand at one all day. Once I discovered Fort was my great uncle, I wanted to know everything about him. I re-read his works (having read bits of them before this revelation) and found I was most impressed with his sense of awe for the world; he marveled at the mysteries of it and encouraged everyone to do the same. Fort never let ridicule or concern about what others would think stand in the way of something that he loved.

Jim Steinmeyer, Fort's biographer, summed up my feelings on Fort and my hopes to continue his legacy incredibly well in a letter to me a year ago: "There's always a place for us to be intrigued, mystified, and fascinated by the world that surrounds us. It's a genuine emotion that deserves to be celebrated. It can be done responsibly, and scientifically, and with a real sense of fun. It's something that Fort did, with his limited education and experience, and I hope that you're able to continue that tradition, in your own way and with your own expertise." I try to live up to that on every shoot.

Einstein said, "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed."

Pat Spain's Journal

Beast Hunter host, Pat Spain, discusses filming part of the show.

FILMING THE OPENING SEQUENCE
New York, NY
Filming in NYC was so different! It was strange being on camera in front of people…I know that’s a weird statement, but it was distracting and strange. We did a shot I've always wanted to do... the shot everyone has to do in NYC... me standing still, in Times Square, for 5 mins while the world moves around me…so much fun! People didn't know what to make of it. Lots of stares and people talking to me and funny expressions. It was really cool. Also scared the crap out of 4 cabbies when I asked them to drive me 1 block and drop me off near the camera crew. Hahhaha. They were TERRIFIED... but all did it for $5…I should have gotten it in 1 take, but it took me 4…of course.

Ate at Meatball... delicious!

The New York Public Library was gorgeous and massive! The room we were allowed in was like heaven to me…so many old, rare books. They had a Guttenburg Bible! Original notes from Salinger and Darwin, etc. I could spend a week in that room. Holding Charles Fort’s notes in my hand was surreal. I’ve seen his handwriting on various things from my Grandmother, and I recognized it immediately (it’s messy and somewhat similar to mine), but to see his actual notes…wow. He wrote down so many random thoughts that my father began referring to the notes as "Twitter from the 1900s." His research was so thorough, each story he clipped had numerous follow-up articles, and letters he wrote to the authors, if he received a response, etc. Found a lot on sea-serpents, which was very exciting. Seems he did have an interest in them more than his works (other than Lo!) let on.


Boston, MA

Having the crew in Boston was so much fun! I loved getting to show them around my town. Being that they are British, I kept pointing out all of the revolutionary landmarks and teased them about the Freedom trail. It was great to be able to bring them to some of my favorite spots and show them my normal life...hopefully, filming will soon become “normal”.

Filming at the MCZ [Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University] was surreal also. It’s a place I’ve loved since 1998 when I first started going there for research projects, a place that really spoke to me about the history of my field. It’s kind of a hidden jewel in Boston, not many people know the incredible collection housed there. Being there before it opened to the public was a real treat…having access to rooms and areas not open to the public made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. I wanted to see it all!

The shoot turned into a much longer day than any of us expected, but it was a lot of fun sharing one of my favourite places with the crew. It was also great having Dom, my camera-man from "Nature Calls" and one of my closest friends with us as a photographer. He got some really cool shots!

I was terrified to hold the Savage skull (the actual holotype gorilla skull Savage brought back from Africa to describe the species!). I was more scared to hold that than I am holding a venomous snake. Its historical and scientific significance make it priceless... and I was able to HOLD IT! Crazy. Being a nature show host brings some incredible perks.

Having them at Genzyme was the icing. Being able to show the labs, where I have spent so much of my life, and explain concepts and equipment to a group of people who have seen so much...but never anything like what I was showing them, was really exciting! It’s easy for me to take things like the Sterility Workstation Isolators for granted, because I practically lived in them, but to see the reactions to this group of people unfazed by charging elephants, yet amazed by a CLIMET was really something. Also, it was probably the most fun I have ever had in that building. Sometimes, it’s great to take a step back from Genzyme in order to really appreciate what an amazing place it is and how important the work we do there is to the patients. Explaining what it is we do to new people really helps drive that home for me, it makes me appreciate it all over again.

The Mapinguari

Yesterday we talked about the second episode consisting of the legendary Mapinguari. Here is some info on this bizarre creature.

Facts Behind the Mapinguari
Deep in the Brazilian Amazon lurk tales of a massive one-eyed monster. With slashing claws, savage howl, noxious stench and a gaping mouth in its body, the locals tremble to repeat its name: Mapinguari. For some it exists only in the spirit world, but for those who've been attacked it is brutally real. On his search for the truth about the Mapinguari, Beast Hunter Pat Spain interviews natives who claim to have seen the beast, and investigates potential biological connections with other known animals. Below are some interesting facts related to his hunt.

In 1937, there was a report from Central Brazil that claimed a mapinguari had gone on a three week rampage killing over 100 cows and ripping out the tongues from the bovine carcasses.

In 2005 scientists used radiocarbon dating on bones found on Cuba and Hispaniola to prove that ground sloths, although not giant ones, were present on the island as recently as 4,400 years ago and have speculated that their demise and extinction coincided with the arrival of modern humans on the islands.

One of the largest giant ground sloths found to date is the Megatherium americanum which was one of the largest mammals of its time. Growing up to 20 feet long and weighing over three tons, it used its huge and powerful claws for tearing down leaves and branches.

Sloths move so slowly that green algae forms on their fur which helps to camouflage them from predators. In fact their fur provides an entire ecosystem to many creatures, including beetles and moths.

There are both two-toed and three-toed modern-day sloths. They are built for a life almost entirely in the trees, where they mate and even give birth. On the ground, they are awkward and clumsy, making them vulnerable to predators. In fact they are better swimmers than walkers.

When sleeping, sloths often curl up in a ball in the fork of a tree.

Sloths eat, sleep, mate, and give birth all while hanging upside down.

Tree-dwelling sloths have extra vertebrae in their neck enabling them to rotate their head an incredible 270 degrees. They also have a famously high pitched call.

The pain caused by the bullet ant's sting is ranked the highest on the Schmidt Pain Index being described as: "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel."

For a vertebrate, it has been estimated that about 14 bullet ant stings per pound is enough to kill.

Giant anteaters are found in Central and South America from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and prefer grassland, savanna and tropical forest areas.

Anteaters have no teeth, which is known as being edentate; however they use their long tongues (up to two feet long) to transport the insects into their mouth.

Anteaters can eat up to 30,000 insects in a single day.

The Karitiana tribe of the Porto Velho region in Brazil experienced a dramatic decline in their population after they were first contacted by the outside civilization, through contracting new diseases for which they had no immunity or medication. This is still a major threat to un-contacted tribes today. The Karitiana tribes drop in numbers became so severe they were considered extinct in 1957. A program of vigorous re-population was adopted to ensure the tribes survival.

Brazil’s Amazon is home to more uncontacted tribes than anywhere in the world. The Brazilian government department (FUNAI) specializing in protecting the rights of the indigenous tribes has estimated there could be up to 70 isolated groups in the rain forest.

Here is some information from Wikipedia as well
Many cryptozoologists are intrigued by reports of this creature, though some have dismissed it as a folkloric/mythologic creature, or a long-preserved folk memory of the giant animals that existed in South America in the Pleistocene, in particular the giant ground sloth Mylodon.

Among the many researchers who have tried to find evidence for the existence of the Mapinguari is the ornithologist David Oren. During his various expeditions, he has collected a range of material some of which was later shown to be agouti fur, anteater feces, and casts of tracks that were inconclusive. Nevertheless, Oren still considers the creature to be real, but highly elusive, and nowadays extremely rare, avoiding contact with humans whenever possible.

More on the Orang Pendek

The Orang Pendek is featured on the first episode of Beast Hunter. But what exactly is the Orang Pendek?

The Facts Behind Orang Pendek
In the vast, unexplored jungles of Sumatra, locals report seeing a creature that looks something like an ape, yet it walks just like us. They call it Orang Pendek – or ‘short man.’ Beast Hunter Pat Spain digs deep into the science of this mythologized creature. Here's some of the factual evidence and historical context related to his hunt.

In the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus — the founder of the modern system of biological classification — listed two existing human species: Homo sapiens and Homo troglodytes (cave men). He also included a third group – Homo ferus (meaning 'wild man') within Homo sapiens.

Orang Pendek is also sometimes referred to as the 'Sedapa,' and in the forests of nearby Borneo there are similar reports of a creature known as the 'Batutut.' Other regional variations include 'Orang Gugu' and 'Ebu Gogo.' Despite the different names, the descriptions are all very similar.

The Suku Anak Dalam or Orang Rimba, meaning 'children of the forest,' are an indigenous people in the Jambi Province of Sumatra. Their population is approximately 2,500. Most live in the forest but are now increasingly marginalized due to the continued deforestation in their area. The tribe describes a small, ape-like ghost creature they know as 'Hantu Pendek' that was more frequently encountered by their ancestors.

It is the ability to walk upright that set man apart from other species, and one of the most extraordinary described traits of Orang Pendek. Although some primates can walk on two legs, they have not evolved to do so in the same way as humans. The transition to bipedalism happened in the early stages of hominid evolution and required major adaptations of the skeleton and supporting leg muscles. Primates have not developed the same thigh and knee bone structure as humans; therefore they walk with their feet wide apart and have to rock their whole body from side to side in order to move their center of gravity over whichever leg is bearing their weight.

In 2002 a British expedition to Sumatra to search for Orang Pendek returned with a cast of a footprint and two hairs believed to be from the creature itself. Mr Hans Brunner from Deakin University in Melbourne, who famously testified in the Lindy Chamberlain 'Dingo baby' case, offered to analyze the hair sample. He could not find a match with previously known species.

Scientists Jeffrey Schwartz and John Grehan have suggested that humans are more closely related to orangutans than chimps, contrary to previously thought. They researched unique physical and evolutionary characteristics that link human and great apes and found that humans shared 28 out of 63 characteristics with orangutans, in contrast to two with chimps and seven with gorillas.

Liang Bua is the name of the karst limestone cave from which the so-called Homo floresiensis was found. The most complete skeleton of this proposed distinct species found at the site is known as LB1. The cave is located in the Wae Racang Valley on the western end of the tiny island of Flores in Indonesia.

The fossils found at Liang Bua cave date as recently as 12,000 years ago. Since other finds have shown that modern humans arrived on Flores between 55,000 and 35,000 years ago, they presumably interacted with Homo floresiensis, suggesting that in fairly recent times two distinct species of humans were contemporary in at least one part of the world.

Other fossils found on the island of Flores have revealed that Homo floresiensis would have shared its environment with pygmy elephants called stegodons, giant rats, and giant monitor lizards known as Komodo dragons, which are still found on the island.

Flores Man – aka the 'hobbit' – used fire in hearths for cooking and hunted stegodon. Although these were primitive dwarf elephants, they still posed a significant challenge to the hobbit-sized hunter. Therefore researchers have speculated that the practice of hunting must have required joint communication, tools and planning, as well as deliberately targeting the smaller and younger elephants. The Flores humans' diets also included fish, frogs, snakes, tortoises, birds, and rodents.

Heres some more information I found on Wikipedia
Orang Pendek (Indonesian for "short person") is the most common name given to a cryptid, or cryptozoological animal, that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra.

The animal has allegedly been seen and documented for at least one hundred years by forest tribes, local villagers, Dutch colonists, and Western scientists and travelers. Consensus among witnesses is that the animal is a ground-dwelling, bipedal primate that is covered in short fur and stands between 80 and 150 cm (30 and 60 in) tall.

While Orang Pendek or similar animals have historically been reported throughout Sumatra and Southeast Asia, recent sightings have occurred largely within the Kerinci regency of central Sumatra and especially within the borders of Taman Nasional Kerinci Seblat (Kerinci Seblat National Park) (TNKS). The park, 2° south of the equator, is located within the Bukit Barisan mountain range and features some of the most remote primary rainforest in the world. Habitat types within TNKS include lowland dipterocarp rainforest, montane forests, and volcanic alpine formations on Mt. Kerinci, the second highest peak in Indonesia.[8] Because of its inaccessibility, the park has been largely spared from the rampant logging occurring throughout Sumatra and provides one of the last homes for the endangered Sumatran Tiger.

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.

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. Many therefore propose that Orang Pendek could represent a new genus of primate or a new species or subspecies of orangutan or gibbon.

As far back as Mr. van Heerwarden's account of Orang Pendek, people have speculated that the animal may in fact be a "missing link" (a hominid representing an earlier stage in human evolution). 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 as recently as 12,000 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.

A look at the second episode of Beast Hunter

Both the first and second episode will appear on Friday March 4th, 2011 back to back. We talked about the first episode here.

Heres a look at the second episode discussing the legendary Mapinguari.

Nightmare of the Amazon

Deep in the Brazilian Amazon lurk tales of a massive one-eyed monster. With slashing claws, savage howl, noxious stench and a gaping mouth in its body, the locals tremble to repeat its name: mapinguari. To gather concrete information on the creature, Spain must gain the confidence of the local tribes. He takes part in an extreme initiation ritual: wearing gloves lined with venomous bullet ants. The insects' stings send Pat into a hallucinatory world of pain.

Beast Hunter Nat Geo TV ad on YouTube

Beast Hunter, the new intriguing series from the National Geographic Channel, follows host Pat Spain as he tries to uncover the world's most mystifying creatures.

Who was Charles Fort

Beast Hunter Host Pat Spain mentions that Charles Fort is his great Uncle. But who really is this interesting man? Patrick J. Kiger gives us some insight in this article.

Charles Fort, Chronicler of the Unexplained

At Charles Fort's funeral in May 1932 in New York, renowned novelist Theodore Dreiser gave the eulogy address, in which he called his friend and author "one of the greatest minds the world has ever known," and predicted that future generations would pay tribute to Fort. Only six other mourners showed up to listen to those words of praise.

It could be that Fort, whose United Press obituary described him as "the indomitable iconoclast who flung his darts at the dogmatism of science," had antagonized too many people with his writings, which questioned near-sacred assumptions and pointed out phenomena that could not be reconciled to existing scientific laws and theories — UFOs, ghosts, spontaneous human combustion, stigmata, people with psychic abilities, and the like. It could be that some of Fort's own notions — he once famously argued that the Moon was only 39 miles away from the Earth — were so outré that most saw him as either a satirist or delusionary.

Or it could be that, like many other prophets and visionaries, Fort simply was a bit too far ahead of his time.

It's easy to imagine that if Fort were alive today, the author of four provocative nonfiction books — Book of the Damned, Lo, New Lands, and Wild Talents — might have his own coast-to-coast A.M. radio program similar to Art Bell's, or that his musings about strange and troubling occurrences might inspire a hit TV series along the lines of Fringe or X-Files. His startling, unsettling collection of facts might have made him a huge hit on Twitter.

All the same, Fort introduced the world to speculations about matters such as alien abductions, and his influence is still strongly felt today, in everything from the continuing scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence, to the vast legions of un-credentialed, self-taught researchers who gather data on bleeding statues of Mary, alleged sightings of strange creatures, and alternative explanations for world events. Writer Jim Steinmeyer subtitled his 2008 biography of Fort "the man who invented the supernatural."

In the style of Fort himself, here is a collection of facts: Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, NY, the oldest child of a grocer whose reportedly harsh parental discipline may have helped instill in Fort a strong distrust of authority and the status quo. As a youth, he didn't distinguish himself in the classroom, preferring instead to collect minerals and sea shells and follow his own intellectual serendipity in public libraries. At 18, he left home and traveled widely, from the western U.S. to South Africa, married a woman who raised parakeets, worked as a newspaperman and held assorted odd jobs as he struggled to make his name as a novelist. In 1916, when he was 42, Fort had a stroke of luck; his uncle left him an inheritance, which supported him so that he could write fulltime.

Fort's speculative fiction, however, was a bit too unsettling and non-commercial for his time. One of his unpublished novels, simply entitled X, envisioned a reality in which Martians secretly controlled events on Earth, while another, Y, focused on a sinister civilization based at the South Pole.

But his writing caught the attention of Dreiser, who helped Fort to publish a nonfiction work, The Book of the Damned, in 1919. As Fort explained on the first page:

By the damned, I mean the excluded. We shall have a procession of data that Science has excluded. Battalions of the accursed, captained by pallid data that I have exhumed, will march.


What follows is a vitriolic, rambling attack on established science, bolstered with bizarre happenings that Fort amassed in countless hours of perusing books, magazines and newspapers at the New York Public Library. Fort was particularly fascinated with strange objects that fell from the sky — he cites, among other things, torrents of small fish and frogs in England and France, snowflakes 15-inches across that supposedly startled Montanans in 1887, bucketfuls of a strange yellow muck that fell from the sky in the various locations around the globe in the 1870s, and "flakes of a substance that looked like beef" that descended upon Bath County, Kentucky on March 3, 1876.

After noting orthodox science's inability to explain such phenomena, Fort offered his own theory — the existence of a region in the atmosphere, a sort of aerial "Super-Sargasso Sea," which held the planet's flotsam and jetsam with some sort of magnetic force until the items were shaken free by storms.

The Book of the Damned and Fort's subsequent works attracted a modest but fervent following, many of whom corresponded with the author and took to conducting paranormal research of their own. But as he enjoyed a belated measure of success, Fort's health began to worsen — in part, perhaps, because of his distrust of medicine and reluctance to seek treatment. Shortly after he delivered his final book to the publisher in 1932, he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital in the Bronx, where he died.

Though Fort avoided joining groups himself, since his death several institutions — including the Charles Fort Institute and the International Fortean Organization — have arisen to continue the examination of puzzling phenomena. Such items and events are often referred to as Fortean, in remembrance of the unconventional seer who led us to consider them.

Nat Geo's new series: Beast Hunter on March 4th

A new series is starting on The National Geographic Channel(Nat Geo) called Beast Hunter. The show is set to begin on March 4th, 2011 at 9pm/8c, showing its first two episodes. Beast Hunter is hosted by Pat Spain, a biologist and explorer who travels the globe in search of mythical creatures, immersing himself amongst the tribes, people and cultures on his quest to find the truth between fact and fiction. In the show Pat will search for biazarre creatures and cryptids. Creatures include the Orang Pendek, Mapinguari, Mokele Mbembe, Caddy the Sea Serpent, and Mongolian Death Worm.

The first episode includes the Orang Pendek and is titled "Man Ape of Sumatra"

In the vast jungles of mystical Sumatra, locals have reported seeing a creature that looks something like an ape, yet it walks just like us. They've named it "Orang Pendek" - the little man of the forest. A recent scientific discovery proposes that another species of humans - nicknamed 'hobbits' - did once live in Indonesia. So could there be a new great ape waiting to be discovered? Or is it possible we're not the only human species living on earth? Biologist and beast hunter Pat Spain investigates.