Overview
Orang pendek means 'short person' in Indonesian. The creature is reported from the mountain rainforests of Sumatra, especially in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park in the Bukit Barisan range, near Mount Kerinci, Indonesia's second-highest peak. Witnesses describe a primate about three to five feet tall, strongly built, covered in dark hair, that walks upright on two legs and runs away on two legs when surprised.
Local people in the region have spoken of the creature for generations. Dutch colonists recorded reports in the early 1900s. The best known came from a surveyor named Van Heerwarden in 1923, who described a dark, hairy figure with long arms and a face that was 'not at all apelike', in his words.
In the 1990s British journalist Debbie Martyr moved to Sumatra to investigate. She collected hundreds of local accounts and says she saw the animal herself more than once. Wildlife photographer Jeremy Holden also reported a sighting. British expeditions in the 2000s and 2010s, including teams with Adam Davies, Richard Freeman and Dave Archer, brought back footprint casts and hair and reported further sightings.
No body, clear photo or confirmed DNA has yet established the orang pendek as a known species. Supporters see it as the most likely of all cryptid apes to be real, because the habitat is huge and the descriptions are consistent. Others remain cautious until a specimen is found.
Timeline
- Generations before 1900Local Sumatran communities tell of a short, upright forest ape.
- 1923Dutch surveyor Van Heerwarden reports a close sighting.
- Nov 9, 1924The account appears in the Nevada State Journal.
- 1990sDebbie Martyr and Jeremy Holden investigate in Kerinci; Martyr reports her own sighting (1994 per one source).
- 2001-2003Adam Davies, Andrew Sanderson and Keith Townley bring back a footprint cast and hair.
- 2011Adam Davies's team, with guide Sahar Didmus, reports a sighting; Richard Freeman also leads an expedition.
Reported sightings
Sumatra (Dutch colonial survey area)
1923 On the record
Van Heerwarden, a Dutch surveyor, said he watched a dark, hairy creature at close range. He noted its long arms reaching above the knees, short legs, normal-looking toes, and dark hair falling to about the shoulder blades. He said its face had nothing ugly about it and did not look like an ape's. His account was printed in the United States in 1924.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgKerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra
1994 On the record
Debbie Martyr, a former London journalist, said she saw the orang pendek while investigating in the Kerinci forests. She described it walking across a valley in front of her about thirty meters away, a very strongly built primate. She did not get a photograph. She later became known for tiger conservation in the same region.
Source: paranormalscholar.comKerinci region, Sumatra
1990s On the record
Jeremy Holden, a wildlife photographer working with Martyr, also reported seeing the creature. His description matched hers and Van Heerwarden's in stressing how human-like it looked.
Source: adamdaviesexplorer.comWestern Sumatra
2001-2003 Investigated report
British researchers Adam Davies, Andrew Sanderson and Keith Townley found a footprint and made a cast. Primate biologist David Chivers of Cambridge was reported to say it did not match any known primate. Hair was sent to analyst Hans Brunner, who was reported to suggest it came from an undocumented species.
Source: paranormalscholar.comSumatran rainforest
2011 Investigated report
On an expedition led by Adam Davies, team member Dave Archer and chief guide Sahar Didmus reported seeing an orang pendek that pressed its face and body against a tree as if trying to hide. Davies writes that Sahar, who was calm around tigers, was moved to tears by the encounter.
Source: adamdaviesexplorer.comKerinci Seblat National Park
Undated Told story
An unnamed military helicopter pilot is said to have spotted the creature while flying over the park, describing an ape-like head with strikingly human features. No date or name is given.
Source: gaia.comEvidence
Footprint casts Disputed
Cast by Adam Davies's team; reported to show a mix of ape-like and human-like toe features.
Hair samples Disputed
Reported by expedition members to come from an unknown primate; not confirmed as a new species.
Eyewitness accounts Unexplained
Hundreds of local reports plus several by Western researchers.
What each side says
What witnesses and researchers report
Supporters note that some witnesses are experienced field people, not casual visitors. Debbie Martyr spent years in the forest and later did respected conservation work there. Her description matches Van Heerwarden's from seventy years earlier.
The habitat is vast and rugged, and a small, shy, ground-living ape could plausibly avoid detection. Local people have described it for generations as an ordinary forest animal rather than a spirit.
What skeptics and scientists suggest
Skeptics point out that after decades of searching, there is still no body, no clear photograph and no DNA result published as a new species. Footprint and hair findings came from expedition members and their contacts, and have not led to a formal species description.
Even Richard Freeman's long fieldwork produced many photos of other wildlife but no clear image of the orang pendek. Until a specimen exists, the case rests on testimony.
Open questions
- Is it a new ape, a known primate behaving oddly, or something else?
- Why has no searcher yet captured a clear photograph?
Visiting
Where: Kerinci Seblat National Park, central Sumatra, Indonesia, around Mount Kerinci.
Access: Visitors can trek parts of the park with licensed local guides and permits. Deep forest areas are remote and rugged.
Events: None.
Did you know?
- Marco Polo is sometimes said to have mentioned Sumatran wild men, per Adam Davies.
- Debbie Martyr was awarded an MBE for her work protecting Sumatran tigers.