Buzz
While Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman (locally called the Yeti) are globally famous, few realize that nearly every nation has its own variation of the ape-man myth. The enduring nature of these tales and their prevalence across diverse cultures have led some to theorize that small groups of ancient hominids may still exist, or perhaps an unknown ape species. As we explore, some explanations are even more unusual.
10. The European Wildman
European folklore is filled with stories of the “Wild Man of the Woods,” so prevalent that medieval heraldry frequently featured images of these hairy figures. While these legends differ significantly from modern Bigfoot tales, some cryptozoologists suggest they might point to the existence of hominid cryptids in the area.
Unlike typical Bigfoot tales, European Wildmen (and Wildwomen) were often ordinary individuals (frequently hermits or eccentrics) who retreated to the woods. Surviving on acorns and berries, they reportedly grew fur and became less human over time. The tales of Wildmen (also referred to as “Woodwose” or “Wooser”) faded as Europe modernized. However, settlers carried these legends to the New World. The first recorded sighting of a Wildman in North America happened in 1818 near Ellisburg, New York, when a “reliable witness” spotted a hairy man running through the forest. Despite extensive searches, no evidence of the creature was ever found.
Combine Europe’s Wildmen stories with New World settings and blend them with similar indigenous myths, and you have a plausible origin for the Bigfoot legend. Some cryptozoologists argue that the Wildman might have existed but is now extinct, wiped out by the unstoppable spread of civilization.
9. The Nguoi Rung
The Nguoi Rung (“Forest People”), also called the “Batutut” or “Ujit,” are described as hairy, ape-like beings inhabiting Vietnam’s dense jungles, particularly the Three Forests region where Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos meet. Descriptions vary, with fur colors ranging from grey to brown to reddish, but the creature is always said to walk upright. By 1974, sightings were so common that General Hoang Minh Thao, commanding North Vietnamese forces in the Central Highlands, commissioned a scientific expedition to find them. While no Nguoi Rung was discovered, researchers did create a plaster cast of an unusually wide footprint.
Potential candidates for the Nguoi Rung include Meganthropus, Homo erectus, or Neanderthals. A more contentious theory comes from cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, who proposed that the creature might be living specimens of Homo pongoides—the notorious “Minnesota Iceman,” a purported hominid, now largely considered a hoax, which was displayed frozen in ice at carnivals and fairs during the 1960s.
8. Lailoken, The Scottish Wildman
Scotland’s take on the European Wildman myth is Lailoken, a deranged prophet who roamed the forests near modern-day Glasgow in the late 6th century AD. He is mentioned in The Life of Saint Kentigern, where he is portrayed as “a certain madman, known as Laleocen.” Like other European Wildman stories, he was often depicted as hairy and clad in tattered animal hides.
The most intriguing aspect of this southern Scottish madman is his link to Merlin. A medieval manuscript called the Scotichronicon recounts Lailoken’s life in a manner nearly identical to the Welsh tales of Myrddin Wyllt, one of the precursors to the Arthurian Merlin.
7. The Yeren
The Yeren, also called the Shennongjiayerenn (we’ll use Yeren for simplicity), is a Bigfoot-like cryptid believed to live in China, especially the Shennongjia area of northwestern Hubei province. Descriptions vary widely—some tales depict small, fully hairy beings, while others speak of towering creatures with grayish-red fur and a blend of human and ape traits. These accounts have led many researchers to suggest the legends might actually refer to bears, gibbons, or other rare animals native to the region.
Legends of the Yeren date back centuries. The Ch’ing dynasty poet Yuan Mei (1716–98) wrote of a creature that is “monkey-like, yet not a monkey.” An even older tale claims that during the reign of the first Chinese Emperor, people fled to the forests to escape forced labor on the Great Wall. Like Europe’s Wildmen, these fugitives were said to develop fur and turn feral. Could there be a kernel of truth in this myth?
Modern Yeren sightings have been frequent. In 1940, biologist Wang Tselin reportedly examined the body of a female Yeren. In 1976, a group of six officials claimed to have encountered a Yeren on a remote road in Hubei province, leading to an official investigation. Locals provided fur and feces allegedly from the creature, but no conclusive evidence was found.
One of the most recent encounters occurred in 2007, when four tourists reportedly came “almost face to face” with two of these creatures deep within the Shennongjia Nature Reserve.
6. Pakistan’s Barmanu
In the isolated regions of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Shishi Kuh Valley, there are reports of a humanoid creature called the Barmanu (“Hairy One”). Its habitat overlaps with areas associated with the Yeti and Alma, leading some to speculate that all three might be the same entity.
The Barmanu first gained international attention through Spanish cryptozoologist Jordi Magraner, who depicted it as Neanderthal-like, occasionally clad in animal skins, and emitting a strong, unpleasant odor. This description bears a striking resemblance to America’s infamous “Skunk Ape.”
Between 1992 and 1994, Magraner and his research team frequently visited the area, documenting footprints and hearing grunting noises at night, which they believed came from a “primitive voice box.” Magraner persisted in his studies, but on August 2, 2002, tragedy occurred when he was killed by his Pakistani guide, just weeks before he intended to return to Europe with his discoveries.
Notably, when Magraner presented locals with images of various real and alleged hominids, they consistently identified the “Minnesota Iceman” (refer to entry 9) as the closest match.
5. The Alma Of Mongolia
The Alma (Mongolian for “Wildman”), one of the most renowned cryptids on this list, originates from the Altai Mountains in southern Mongolia. Professor Boris Porchnev of the Moscow Academy of Sciences compiled a detailed description of the creature based on eyewitness accounts:
“The creature lacks an underlayer of fur, making its skin visible in places. Its head tapers to a cone-like shape, and its teeth resemble human teeth but are larger, with more widely spaced canines.”
Porchnev’s description also mentioned that the Alma could run as swiftly as a horse. Breeding pairs reportedly lived in underground dens, consuming small animals and plants, and ventured out at night. Like the Barmanu, the Alma is said to emit an “unpleasant odor.”
Given the abundance of ancient tales about the Alma and similar beings among Central Asian cultures, sightings of these humanoid cryptids raise the intriguing possibility that early humans may have encountered surviving primitive hominids. In a USA Today article discussing a 30,000-year-old pinky bone found in a Siberian cave, folklorist Michael Heaney remarked that such legends have existed in the region for centuries. “Stories of wild men, though often mythic, frequently align with what we know about early hominins. The alleged [Almas] of Central Asia could represent any number of pre-sapien ancestors.”
4. The Urayuli Of Southwest Alaska
In the dense forests surrounding Alaska’s Lake Iliamna, tales persist of a mysterious hominid-like creature, said to stand three meters (10 ft) tall and covered in dark, shaggy fur. Sightings have been relatively frequent, including one in 1999 when a group found enormous tracks along Belkofski Bay. That same year, a witness reported seeing a massive, ape-like being with unusually long arms standing upright. The creature was described as towering over 4 meters (13 ft) tall. If real, it’s unlikely to be a surviving hominid, as none are known to have reached such immense sizes.
Similar to other Wildmen legends, it’s believed that children who wander into the woods and become lost transform into Urayuli. These creatures are also said to produce an eerie cry, reminiscent of a loon’s call.
3. Siberia’s Chuchunaa
The Chuchunaa (“outcast” or “fugitive”), also called the Tjutjuna, is a hominid cryptid rumored to inhabit Siberia’s icy wilderness. Described as nearly 2 meters (6 ft) tall, with prominent brows, long tangled hair, and a thick beard, many speculate they could be surviving Neanderthals or Homo gardarensis. Unlike most cryptids, the Chuchunaa is often said to wear clothing made from deer hides.
In 1933, Professor P. Dravert, after learning that Chuchunaa were being hunted, urged the Soviet government to stop the practice, advocating for the creatures to be recognized as Soviet citizens with equal rights under the law. His plea was ignored, but as late as 1970, geologist Vladimir Pushkarev studied the creatures, concluding that their population was declining due to the spread of civilization into their habitat.
Once so frequently reported that the Soviet government nearly accepted their existence, modern sightings of the Chuchunaa are rare, often unreliable, or unverified. A handful of blurry, shaky videos, like the one above, have appeared on YouTube, but none provide conclusive evidence.
Some accounts claim the Chuchunaa are cannibalistic and prone to stealing food and supplies from campsites. Despite numerous historical tales, no physical evidence has ever been found to substantiate the Chuchunaa legend.
2. The Honey Island Swamp Monster
In the 1970s and ’80s, Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp gained fame as the alleged home of a two-legged man-like creature known as the “Honey Island Swamp Monster,” the “Southern-Fried Bigfoot,” or simply “the Thing.” The legend began with hunters Harlan E. Ford and Billy Mills, who claimed to have seen the beast and presented plaster casts of its footprints, allegedly found near a slain wild boar with its throat cut. Unlike most hominid cryptid stories, these casts suggested the creature had four webbed toes, leading some to speculate it might be a hybrid of a hominid and an alligator or lizard.
In a state rich with local legends and mythical creatures, reports of the Honey Island Swamp Monster quickly spread, bringing nationwide attention to the Honey Lake region. Older tales seem to lend credibility to the creature’s existence—or perhaps inspired it. Native American tribes speak of the “Letiche,” a semi-aquatic “man-beast” raised by alligators in the swamps. Cajun legends of the “Loup Carou” might describe a creature similar to the Honey Island Monster, rather than the mistaken belief that they are werewolves. The most bizarre story involves a train crash that supposedly released a group of chimpanzees, which then bred with alligators in the swamp!
The Honey Island Swamp Monster inspired the creation of “Lockjaw,” the monster in the 2011 horror film, Creature.
1. The Nittaewo
Described by Pliny the Elder in the first century AD, the Nittaewo were a small race of “beast-men” said to live alongside the Veddahs in modern-day Sri Lanka. The Veddahs, a real people, had their own legends about the Nittaewo, claiming they wiped out the entire race by trapping them in a cave. According to the tales, the Veddahs, who feared the Nittaewo for their cruelty, stacked firewood at the cave’s entrance and set it ablaze, suffocating the remaining Nittaewo with smoke.
According to Veddah legends, the Nittaewo were orangutan-like climbers, standing just over a meter (3 ft) tall and covered in dark red fur. Their voices were described as resembling bird-like chirps. Like the Alma, many cryptozoologists argue these stories depict a cryptid hominid that coexisted with humans in recorded history but vanished before it could be properly documented.
In 1887, British explorer Hugh Nevill recorded accounts of more recent conflicts between the Veddahs and the Nittaewo, despite the latter supposedly being extinct by then. He learned from a Veddah family that the Nittaewo were wiped out four generations prior, around 1775, and that a family ancestor had participated in destroying their final refuge. In the 1940s, British primatologist W.C. Osman Hill, relying on descriptions and scant evidence, suggested the Nittaewo might have been Homo erectus. Later, in 1963, Captain A.T. Rambukwella proposed they could have been a species of Australopithecus (the famed “Hobbit” hominid), given their reported small stature.
