Experts head to Indonesia on trail of the elusive ‘walking ape’ orang pendek

Experts are heading to the Indonesian island of Sumatra this week on the trail of one of the most elusive and fascinating creatures in cryptozoology: orang pendek, the walking ape.

For more than a century, there have been convincing reports of the creature’s existence. Yet no-one has ever managed to find categorical proof that the island is home to a species of ape that walks freely on its back legs.

Zoologist Richard Freeman is leading the expedition to see if the ape can be found. Some people are sceptical, but there seems to be some genuine scientific basis for the belief that an ape could have adapted to walking in this way.