There’s no denying it – we are impressed by big things: dinosaurs, whales, rhino, skyscrapers. Mention mystery apes to the man in the street and he will imagine bipedal hairy giants, at least 10 feet (3m) tall. And, indeed, many reports do speak of large creatures, such as the yeti, the yeren, the Sasquatch, and the yowie. But, for every bigfoot there is a littlefoot – and none are so famous as Sumatra’s orang-pendek.

The name in the local language means ‘short man’. This small, stocky, upright ape has been reported since the days of the Dutch colonists. A couple of years back I compiled a list of the ‘top 10 cryptids most likely to actually exist’ for Animals & Men magazine.