EXPEDITION PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 29th September
EXPEDITION SPOTS MYSTERY APE IN SUMATRA

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) is the world’s largest mystery animal research group. Only a week after releasing footage of what appears to be anomalous animals in an Irish lake, a group of four British explorers and scientists from the CFZ have just returned from the jungles of Sumatra having spent two weeks in the rainforest on the track of the orang-pendek, an unknown species of upright walking ape. They have brought back some incredible news.

CFZ member Dave Archer and local guide Sahar saw the creature at a distance of around 100 feet as it squatted in a tree. Dave describes it as broad shouldered, with a large head, black skin and dark brown hair. A line of darker fur was visible on the spine. He likened the coat of the creature to that of a mountain gorilla. Sahar saw the creature jump down from the tree and walk away on its hind legs. It was the size of an adult male chimpanzee.

Next to the tree was some rattan vine that the animal was apparently chewing. Expedition leader Adam Davis has preserved part of the plant in ethanol in the hope that it contains cells from the animal’s mouth.

The team also found and photographed several sets of tracks made by creatures. Expedition zoologist Richard Freeman confirmed that they matched no known creature in the area. The prints were six to seven inches long with a narrow heel and wider front. The big toe is well separated.

Hair samples were taken from a tree close to the tracks. A number of the hairs contain medullas that the team hopes will contain orang-pendek DNA. The samples will shortly be sent off to experts around the world for analysis.

If the samples turn out to be from a new species Freeman suggests the scientific name of Pongo martyri in honour of the English researcher Debbie Martyr who has done more than anyone else to look into this zoological mystery.

Footage from the expedition and from the Irish lakes are being submitted for inclusion in a major BBC documentary about the CFZ, which is being made by Minnow Films, an award winning British film production company, over the next eight months.

Pictures are available from the expedition, and more information will be released over the next few days. For pictures from Sumatra or Ireland, or to interview personnel from either expedition please telephone Jon or Corinna on 01237 4531413.

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (and is a non-profit making (not for profit) organisation registered with H.M. Stamp Office.
* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.
* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra, will be published in the next few weeks.
* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.
* CFZ Press is the world’s largest publisher of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.
* The CFZ produce their own full length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv (www.cfztv.org). One of their films, Lair of the Red Worm, which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition, has now been seen by nearly 50,000 people.
* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’s old family home in rural north Devon, which he shares with his wife Corinna (52). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.
* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track (http://cfzmonthly.blogspot.com/), which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.
* The CFZ are opening a Visitor Centre and Museum in Woolsery, North Devon.
* Following their successful partnership with Capcom (www.capcom.com) on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

Pic: L-R Sahar Didmus, Dr Chris Clark, Dave Archer, Adam Davies, Richard Freeman, Donny (guide)