Two giant ape-like creatures were spotted in the afternoon of
November 18, 2007, in Shennongjia, an area famous for the legendary
"bigfoot" wild man located in central China's Hubei Province. Four
independently traveling tourists claimed that they were almost face
to face with two wild men while touring around the Licha River, at
the northern foot of Laojun Mountain. If their words prove to be
true, the tourists will be the first eyewitnesses of "bigfoot" in
southeast Shennongjia Nature Reserve in recent years.
According to a Changjiang Times report on November 20,
Zhang Jinxing, a scientist conducting investigations in the
Shennongjia Nature Reserve, reported the thrilling event to
relevant local authorities in the afternoon of November 19. When
Zhang had finished his investigation that morning, he came across
four independently traveling tourists, two men and two women, in a
land-rover. These tourists told him that they had seen two wild men
around the Licha River in the morning of November 18. They were
near a sharp curve on the mountain road when three of the four, two
men and one woman, spotted two giant, dark figures standing behind
a tangled mass of shrubbery some 50 meters away from their car. It
seemed that the two creatures didn't see the car at first, but they
soon fled into the dense forest. Later that day, the tourists
reported the event to the Lichahe Forest Maintenance Station and
came back to the spot with two forest rangers. At this time, they
only found a few footprints, branches they believed were broken by
the wild men and wild fruits scattered on the ground.
Since the Lichahe Forest Maintenance Station is situated in a
remote area in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve, local authorities
didn't receive the report in a timely fashion. Currently, the
proper authorities are busy contacting the four eyewitnesses and an
investigation team has been sent out along the Licha River to
conduct a thorough investigation. Local authorities have promised
to announce investigation results as soon as possible.
(China.org.cn by Chen Xia, November 20, 2007)