Bigfoot?
It's all a big lie
16
Dec 2006
Eileen Ng
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Saturday/National/20061216084259/Article/index_html
KUALA
LUMPUR: The Johor Bigfoot is a hoax. This is the view of the Natural Resources
and Environment Ministry, which said there was no concrete evidence to back up
the creature’s existence.
However,
the ministry’s stand has not gone down well with the Johor state government
which is keeping an open mind on the matter.
The
ministry’s parliamentary secretary, Datuk Sazmi Miah, said no droppings or
hair of the creature had ever been found.
He
said the state Wildlife Department had been monitoring the jungles of Johor for
the past 40 years and there was no firm evidence to prove the creature’s
existence.
Remote-sensing
cameras were also set up in the jungles a few years ago to capture animals’
movements and, so far, the only sightings were of known animals.
"If
there’s truly a Bigfoot, there would have been firm evidence of its existence
or the cameras would have captured its image or movements," he told the New
Straits Times.
He
believed the hoax was perpetrated by certain quarters to generate interest among
foreign scientists who were interested in obtaining the jungle’s lush flora
and fauna.
To
a question, Sazmi said eyewitnesses, who claimed to have seen the creature, could
have mistaken an ape (mawas) or sun bear for a Bigfoot.
"To
date, the evidence has been a so-called footprint.
"Don’t
tell me that the creature walked on one leg? That’s not possible," he
scoffed.
Meanwhile,
Johor’s Tourism and Environment Committee chairman Freddie Long said the
state government was keeping an open mind over the creature’s existence.
"No
one can simply dismiss its existence.
"Our
jungles are 248 million years old with numerous species yet to be discovered.
"How
could he (Sazmi) make such a sweeping statement?" said the irate Long.
He
said the creature’s existence needed some time to be verified. "We are
very keen to pursue this and welcome researchers and scientists to contact us
on their investigations into the Johor Bigfoot."
He
pointed out that the Loch Ness monster in Scotland had never been proven, but
that did not prevent droves of tourists from trying to catch a glimpse of the
creature.
"Similarly,
with the Johor Bigfoot, it has created a lot of interest and we have seen an influx
of tourists coming in."
