ORANG PENDEK ENCOUNTERS: The Night-Time Intruder

Eyewitness: Mr. Rahman Kitab and his wife.
Date: 2004
Location: Rawa Bento Swamp Forest

Approximately halfway between the towering Kerinci volcano and the mysterious mountain lake Gunung Tujuh lies an extensive tract of marshland and jungle-clad hills known as the Rawa Bento Swamp Forest. This area has an interesting history of Orang Pendek sighting and some of the first tracks ever described by a foreigner were found here in 1915 by the Dutch naturalist Dr. Edward Jacobson.

The marsh forest itself was virtually uninhabited until the early 1960s when small  farming communities began cropping up,eventually leading to large sections of the wetlands being converted into agricultural land,primarily rice paddy fields. Mr.Kitab moved into one of these villages in 1976, and built himself a small house about one kilometer from the center where the paddy fields merge with the marsh and forested hills.A skilled woodsman with vast experience in tracking and hunting game he would have to wait almost 30 years before it would be his time to encounter the region's most infamous resident,Tirraw.

One clear evening with a half moon in full view the family dog started to bark feverishly.Surprised by the ruckus Mr.Kitab grabbed a high-powered flashlight and went to investigate.As he flung open the door his dog darted inside,he then quickly stepped out and shone a light into the yard.To his amazement and only about 10m away where the edge of his yard blends in with the rice fields was a man-like creature with the face of a monkey.

Only about one meter tall with very broad shoulders and a bulging abdomen, it was walking bipedally in a somewhat awkward side to side manner.Its arms slightly outstretched to the sides and from time to time it would reach out and grab at branches for support and balance.The limbs were of human proportions and its powerfully built body was covered in short brownish-red hair similar to that of a wild boar.The eyes did not reflect light when the flashlight was directed at them,indicating that it was most likely some form of primate and not just a misidentified known animal.

During the encounter,which lasted almost ten minutes, no audible sound was made by the creature as it slowly made its way along the field and then disappeared into darkness of the jungle.Due to the muddy terrain no discernible tracks could be made out, however,several years later he found what he believed were Orang Pendek footprints in the neighboring forest.

The entire event was also witnessed by his wife, making it one of the rare occasions where an Orang Pendek was observed by two individuals.

An interesting footnote is that Sumatran tigers were commonly encountered in the area until about twenty years ago.However, Mr. Kitab believes a black panther took some chickens from his yard about two years ago.This is a rather interesting statement as phantom panthers and melanistic big cats have been mentioned by villagers in several regions during my travels in central Sumatra,despite the fact that leopards (Panthera pardus) have never been officially recorded on the island.







  

ORANG PENDEK ENCOUNTERS : The Grey-Haired Beast

Eyewitness: Mr. Jur

Date: 1987

Location: Danau Gunung Tujuh

At almost 2000m above sea level ,Danau Gunung Tujuh (the Lake of Seven Peaks) is the highest lake in southeast Asia and is reputed to have a depth of 250m. This crater lake has long been considered  by the inhabitants of the Kerinci region to be the home of a short but powerfully built primate whom they call Tirraw, and nobody knows the remote valleys that surround the lake better than Mr. Jur. A semi-permanent resident since 1974 he has assisted on every major Orang Pendek expedition to the lake since the early 1990s but has never been interviewed,until now.

Prior to becoming declared a national park some twenty years ago,Mr Jur extensively hunted and trapped large game such as samba deer,wild boar and interestingly feral goats which roamed the marshes and closed canopy forests that enclose the lake,often spending weeks alone in search of his quarry.The area was also home to a large number of Sumatran tigers whose presence has significantly diminished over the past several decades, however pug marks can be still be found on occasion.

One late morning in 1987 as he was returning to his camp by the lake shore,he spotted a greyish figure standing about twenty meters away.He saw the creature from the back as it proceeded to run away at breakneck speed, grabbing at branches and leaves as it raced from a clearing near the shore and into the forest.

From his vantage point the creature appeared to have a thick waist and very wide shoulders, and its entire body was covered in dark grey hair.He estimated its height to be no more than 1.2 meters and the entire encounter lasted only 10-15 seconds. When he went to look for tracks, he was quite baffled to find human-like foot prints that led in the opposite direction to its movement.

In 1993 he encountered what he believed was the same individual in virtually the same spot.It's also worth noting that two encounters in a span of forty years by a professional woodsman indicates that it's an incredibly elusive and shy animal and chances of having a third sighting are nil.

ORANG PENDEK ENCOUNTERS : 15 Minutes With An Apeman

Eyewitness: Mr.Poniman

Date: November 1980

Location: Planation on Gunung Kerinci

On a sunny morning around 9am Mr.Poniman made his way up to the end of a potato plantation on the slopes of Mount Kerinci. Like many of the inhabitants of the area,he worked the fields surrounding this enormous stratovolcano and had visited this particular location countless times but this day was to be very different.As he neared a clearing which was bordered by a dry stream bed with dense forest behind it he came upon a strange animal which was standing upright and somewhat resembled a pygmy gorilla.

The creature was standing almost motionless and observing him from a distance of approximately 10m. He estimated its height to be around 1.2m and it was covered with reddish brown hair which was of medium length and uniform across the body.The shape of the head was similar to a human's and not pointed.The face resembled a gorilla except the eyes looked very human and the brow ridge was not particularly prominent.The face was hairless but appeared to be somewhat darker than the surrounding hair,the lips were thin.The neck-less head was set on incredibly wide shoulders,possibly 50% wider than that of a normal man.The arms and legs appeared to have very human proportions.

They watched each other for several minutes before it calmly started walking down to the dry stream bed taking steps in a side to side manner.On several occasions it emitted a “Hoo Hoo” sound as it slowly moved away and then proceeded to start grabbing at branches and leaves as it made its way up the bank and then into the forest. The entire encounter lasted for approximately 15 minutes and Mr Poniman was able to examine the tracks in detail. They where approximately 18cm in length with a pointed heel and the track depth was similar to his own foot prints, indicating a body weight of about 60kg. Interestingly,he also determined that the tracks led with the heel and the toes pointed in the opposite direction. 

His son also encountered a similar looking creature on the same plantation in 1983 or 1984.

ORANG PENDEK EXPEDITION 2015: YouTube Videos

Over the past couple of weeks I've been able to put together two short videos which I have now uploaded on YouTube.

The first video (Part 1) is a compilation of photos from the Danau Gunung Tujuh phase of my investigation. I have also included some jungle trekking footage and a series of trail cam pics of a large Malaysian tapir (Tapirus indicus) which was roaming the perimeter of the lake not far from our main camp.   
              

Part 2 is a collection of photos and video clips from the mysterious marshlands known as the Rawa Bento Swamp Forest.This area has a rich history of Orang Pendek tracks and sightings which by all accounts continue up to this very day.The first farming communities appeared here in the mid-1960s and while large portions of the marsh forest have been converted into paddy fields the region remains sparsely inhabited and the surrounding hills still form a large tract of primary rainforest which is very rarely explored even by the locals.In the not so distant future I plan a more extensive investigation of this fascinating region.

My next series of posts will be devoted to eyewitness encounters.None of these individuals have ever been interviewed before and therefore their stories offer additional insight into the physiology and nature of the pygmy apeman known as Tirraw.