Wildlife officials are today searching the jungles of southern Malaysia for giant creatures which may or may not be the mythical "Bigfoot".
The search follows a reported sighting of three stinking, furry human-like beasts in the Endau Rompin national park in Johor state last month by three fish farm workers.
Wildlife authorities said today that they might set up cameras in the park, which covers 309 square miles, to try to capture an image of the "beasts".
The workers, who were clearing an area for a fish pond, said they saw two adult creatures and one young creature, the Associated Press reports.
So far there is no word on whether the beasts seen by the fish workers look anything like the creature in the 1987 movie, Bigfoot and the Hendersons (or Harry and the Hendersons in the US version), but my fingers are crossed.
After apparently seeing the creatures, the witnesses alerted park authorities who photographed what appeared to be footprints measuring up to 45cm, said Lim Teong Kheng, the chairman of the Malaysian Nature Society in Johor.
The New Straits Times newspaper today reprinted one of the photographs taken by one of the fish farmers, showing what appears to be a triangular depression in the undergrowth.
Mr Lim said brown hair reeking of body odour was also reportedly retrieved nearby, and a broken tree branch at the site appeared to indicate the creatures were some three metres tall.
He welcomed the investigation by the national park saying "Bigfoot" sightings have been reported for decades in the area but never taken seriously for lack of evidence. "Nobody dared say anything in case people say they are out of their minds," Mr Lim told AP, adding that there had been "many other" claimed sightings in the past.
The term "Bigfoot" was probably coined in the US and is given to sightings of giant hairy creatures in mountainous areas of the US and Canada since the 1800s, and in other parts of the world. The mythical creatures are also sometimes called Sasquatch.
Finally, to those disbelievers of Bigfoot, I would quote you the publicity blurb from Bigfoot and the Hendersons [assume gravelly, movie trailer guy voice]: "According to science, Bigfoot doesn't exist. When you can't believe your eyes, trust your heart."
