{"id":317,"date":"2014-12-18T03:13:39","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T03:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.woodape.org\/index.php\/2014\/12\/18\/whyape\/"},"modified":"2022-07-08T10:46:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T15:46:33","slug":"whyape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodape.org\/index.php\/whyape\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Ape?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"last-updated\">Last updated on July 8th, 2022 at 10:46 am<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It purportedly walks upright on feet with five digits and screams \u201clike a woman\u201d; however, this creature is no human. Though it rejects the romantic notion of a long-surviving proto-human, the wood ape is nonetheless the reality that we are left with after examining centuries of evidence. Bigfoot is an animal; the sasquatch is bestial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the 1800s newspapers were rife with reports of \u201cWildmen.\u201d This moniker was given to any and all renditions of hairy\u2014not just hair-covered\u2014bipeds roaming the forests of North America. To jump to the conclusion that every \u201cWildman\u201d report is sasquatch-related, however, is to ignore the tendency to generalize, stereotype, and outright fabricate stories by the mass media of the time. Decades of folklore passed down by European ancestors raised on tales of the Woodwose (a popular character in European culture) could certainly help account for human characteristics in early wood ape reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Occasionally, historical reports of \u201chair covered\u201d beings with traits that ring true to modern wood ape reports do creep up. They mention creatures \u201clightning fast\u201d and \u201chairy from head to toe.\u201d They are seen leaping from trees, running behind farms with dead livestock, and behaving elusively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the early 1900s \u201cWildman\u201d was replaced by the term \u201cape\u201d in the media. Though these reports are few, newspapers did often report on \u201cgiant apes\u201d seen in the vestiges of an expanding America. The behavior patterns remain the same as the apes continue to reject interaction and cling to a shrinking forest habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside of newspapers, sightings within modern databases frequently refer to ape-like characteristics and physical attributes. Rarely do sightings of giant, upright creatures call to mind human traits. When asked about his reasoning for his use of the \u201cwood ape\u201d terminology, NAWAC Board of Directors member Brian Brown, and host of the popular podcast The Bigfoot Show, said, \u201cPrimarily, they live in wooded habitat and behaviorally act similar to apes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A common counter to the ape hypothesis is that these creatures are some remaining form of proto-human. \u201c<i>Homo sapiens<\/i> is known to have very little body hair, and to have made tools, fire, etc.,\u201d says NAWAC member, Stanislaus National Forest Archaeologist, and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Giants-Cannibals-Monsters-Bigfoot-Culture\/dp\/0888396503\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Giants, Cannibals, &amp; Monsters: Bigfoot in Native Culture<\/a>, Kathy Strain. \u201cNothing I\u2019ve seen indicates that wood apes have any of these behaviors or skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question commonly comes up: \u201cWhy an ape\u201d? Why does the North American Wood Ape Conservancy insist on using the term \u201cape\u201d? After all, no type specimen has been produced to definitively state that this creature is not a surviving <i>Homo neandertalensis<\/i>, or even, dare I say with tongue planted firmly in cheek, a <i>space alien<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we do have\u2026 are consistently observed ape behaviors,\u201d says NAWAC member, Brown\u2019s co-host of <i>The Bigfoot Show<\/i>, Sam Rich. \u201cUsing rocks as a mortar to crack nuts, bluff charges, ape-type vocalizations have all been observed in Area X and other locations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 1930s a rash of \u201cape\u201d sightings took place in southern Ohio. The reports consistently referred to a creature, seven to eight feet tall, covered in hair, which smelled to high heaven and fled at the sight of men. Is it possible that some hapless reporter in 1933 got right something that, even today, people struggle with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Examine the existing evidence. Weigh the good against the bad; what you\u2019re left with is a mountain of evidence in favor of a \u201cwood ape\u201d and virtually nothing that stands in favor of a human being, or any of the more outlandish theories.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/woodape.org\/images\/stories\/Articles\/ape%20human%20450%20px.jpg\" alt=\"alt\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Other relevant articles on the NAWAC website:<\/p><p> <a href=\"\/index.php\/apeappellations\/\">Ape Appelations<\/a> by Alton Higgins and Daryl Colyer (2013)<\/p><p><a href=\"\/index.php\/nawacannounce\/\">New Name, Same Mission<\/a> by Brian Brown (2013)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last updated on July 8th, 2022 at 10:46 am It purportedly walks upright on feet with five digits and screams \u201clike a woman\u201d; however, this creature is no human. Though it rejects the romantic notion of a long-surviving proto-human, the wood ape is nonetheless the reality that we are left with after examining centuries of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","inline_featured_image":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Ape? - North American Wood Ape Conservancy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.woodape.org\/index.php\/whyape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Ape? - North American Wood Ape Conservancy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last updated on July 8th, 2022 at 10:46 am It purportedly walks upright on feet with five digits and screams \u201clike a woman\u201d; however, this creature is no human. Though it rejects the romantic notion of a long-surviving proto-human, the wood ape is nonetheless the reality that we are left with after examining centuries of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.woodape.org\/index.php\/whyape\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North American Wood Ape Conservancy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-12-18T03:13:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-08T15:46:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/woodape.org\/images\/stories\/Articles\/ape%20human%20450%20px.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daryl Colyer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daryl Colyer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daryl Colyer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3ba9ec0be37b96dc1be5ff1a687278d\"},\"headline\":\"Why Ape?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-12-18T03:13:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-08T15:46:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":611,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/woodape.org\\\/images\\\/stories\\\/Articles\\\/ape%20human%20450%20px.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.woodape.org\\\/index.php\\\/whyape\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Ape? 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