- The wildlife biologist has been on the
trail of the legendary -- many would argue mythical -- ape-like creature
ever since he found a pair of 38-centimetre long footprints in a Vancouver
Island park.
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- That's bigger than some of the biggest
feet in the National Basketball Association.
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- Bindernagel, 57, is convinced the Sasquatch,
also known as Bigfoot, is real and he's on a mission to turn the mystery
surrounding the animal's existence into a science project.
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- When people tell Bindernagel about the
big hairy beast they saw in the woods, he doesn't brush them off, he pulls
out his notebook.
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- "I have no reason not to accept
the reports," he said. "My language is the evidence is sufficient."
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- Bindernagel, who studied at the University
of Guelph and has a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, said the Sasquatch
deserves serious scientific study.
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- "The wildlife biologists should
be taking this seriously," Bindernagel told about 200 people who recently
attended a Sasquatch meeting at the University of Victoria just days after
reports a sighting of the beast was a fake.
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- "There is another option to a bear
on its hind legs. The option is North America's great ape."
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- Bindernagel said he corresponds with
other scientists about his Sasquatch research, but it appears he hasn't
had much luck with the academics close to home.
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- "It doesn't interest me," said
Lisa Gould, a University of Victoria primatologist and the only one of
several scientists contacted who would comment at all.
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- Bindernagel, who lives in Courtenay,
about 200 kilometres northwest of Victoria, has spent the last two years
writing a book about the Sasquatch.
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- North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch
documents Bindernagel's field work, including his discovery in 1988 of
tracks in Strathcona Provincial Park.
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- The book contains drawings by people
who believe they've seen the animal.
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- The mostly crude-looking drawings all
depict a similar creature. It's about seven feet tall, stands on two feet,
has long arms, broad shoulders, a flat face, short neck and it's hairy.
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- Bindernagel said the drawings portray
the elusive Sasquatch. They are not bears. Bears, when standing erect,
have slim shoulders, shorter arms and a pointed snout.
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- "This is not a bear," he said.
"The fingers are the size of bananas or Oktoberfest sausages. One
B.C. prospector said the hands were as large as canoe paddles."
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- Bindernagel said he has documented 380
cases of Sasquatch encounters in British Columbia and has heard about similar
animals in Manitoba and Florida, where people report seeing a skunk ape.
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- He said there are enough photographs
and plaster casts of Sasquatch footprints to begin including the beast
in legitimate animal tracking manuals.
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- Bindernagel rejects reports last week
that a 1967 film of a Sasquatch retreating into the California forest is
that of a man in a monkey suit.
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- "The whole issue of the Sasquatch,
whether it exists, is well beyond that film," he said. "We've
got so much other stuff."
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- It's only a matter of time before a Sasquatch
ends up as road kill or somebody shoots one or provides film evidence,
Bindernagel said.
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- "I'm kind of hung up on this, that's
fine," he said.
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