Batutut

The Batutut is a hominid of legend across Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia and was first sighted in1918 according to local history. Described as being covered from head to toe in hair with the exception of a leathery looking neck and a pot belly, the Batutut is said to be approximately 4 feet tall and sightings of female Batutut describe them as having extremely sagging breasts. Otherwise resembling a human the Batutut is said to walk more like an ape.

Some of the more credible accounts of for the existence of Batutut came between 1970 – early 80s’. John Mackinnon who is a very well known zoologist discovered what were described as footprints akin to that of a human but smaller and were located deep in the Malaysian rain forest. This was the first credible source and was dated 1970. Some time later in 1982 extremely similar footprints were discovered in Vietnam by a well known professor Tran Hong Viet, the Vietnamese call these Batutut ‘Orang Pendek’ which literally means ‘short man’.

In some of the more isolated villages of Sumatra locals claim to have even had close encounters with Batutut, in some cases even offering food and sharing moments watching as the Batutut would eat and speak in an unidentified dialect.

Do Batutut lurk in the Rainforest?

The first recorded account of a Batutut was in 1918 when a hunter was out in the forest and came across some ‘human’ footprints. The hunter decided to follow these footprints thinking that maybe someone was lost out in the rain forest, it soon became clear however that these were not the footprints of a human. The hunter located the culprit of the footprints nestling in a tree eating a frog and described the humanoid as having shoulder length hair, a pot belly, and broad shoulders. This description would normally e that of an Orangutan however the hunter was adamant that the creature looked very like a human and not an Orangutan and was only 4 feet tall.

Locals are still reporting sightings of Batutut today and accounts have described the behavior of the Batutut in great detail explaining that the Batutut will forage for food like an ape but has been reportedly very aggressive towards humans and is even known to have killed and eaten humans in the past.