Bigfoot

Sightings of a giant, hairy, ape-like creature have been reported in North America for centuries. Known today as ‘Bigfoot’, the creature is said to walk upright and be larger than a human. Despite lots of sightings and even videos and photos, there is no conclusive proof of its existence. Could there really be a strange animal living undetected in the wilderness? Let’s head off into the wild to investigate…

Caught on camera

Reports of big, hairy, apelike creatures go as far back as Native American tribes. Later settlers recorded similar stories. They describe a creature with human and animal-like traits that acts as a guardian of the forest. Its original name was ‘Sasquatch’, translating roughly to ‘hairy man’ or ‘wild man’.

Speaking to The Week Junior Science+Nature’s Mysteries of Science podcast, author Susan Martineau described Bigfoot as “up to 10 feet tall” with “massive shoulders, very big arms, and covered in dark hair or fur.” Some say it has a disgusting smell, she said.

Modern sightings began in 1958 when worker Jerry Crew found large footprints near a construction site in Northern California. The local newspaper covered the story, writing about “Bigfoot”. The most famous sighting happened almost 10 years later when Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin caught what looked like a giant gorilla on camera. The short, shaky clip they recorded is famous. Some believe it is evidence of Bigfoot. Others think it looks like a person in a monkey suit.

Bigfoot has been spotted thousands of times, and in every US state, except Hawaii. Hikers have reported seeing tall, dark figures in the trees. Hunters have claimed to hear footsteps in their camp. Drivers have said they’ve seen something run across the road.

Bigfeets

Like every animal on Earth, a single Bigfoot couldn’t survive alone. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization claims there must be thousands of these creatures. Could this be why there are so many sightings across the US? With so many Bigfoots, you would expect bones, droppings and signs of habitat use.

Researchers have analysed hair samples from reported sightings, and bioacousticians (people who study the sounds of nature) have recorded various grunts and groans. None of these have revealed anything mysterious. They are nearly always from deer, dogs or bears.

New tech has tried to capture sightings. Trail cameras monitor wildlife in remote areas and satellites map remote terrain in detail. Meanwhile, science has shifted the focus to ecology. eDNA surveys can detect unknown species from traces left in soil and water. These tools have revealed new species before – but Bigfoot remains elusive.

The search continues

Despite drawing a blank on this mystery, scientists think the Bigfoot question is worth asking. An expert in primates and foot morphology (how feet look), Professor Jeffrey Meldrum, believed a lot of the evidence he saw. He said that even if Bigfoot didn’t exist, sightings teach us a lot about humans and how they interact with the outdoors.

Some researchers say that misidentification explains much of the mystery. Moose can appear tall and human-like from certain angles, especially to someone who isn’t familiar with them. Black bears can walk on two feet like a human and at a distance could easily be mistaken for an unidentified creature.

More than one in ten people believe in Bigfoot. For many, belief is not about proof but about a good story. Around 28% of the world’s forests are in North America and a lot of them are uninhabited by people. When so much of the world has been explored and tamed, maybe Bigfoot represents a sense of adventure, wilderness and of something yet to be discovered.

Around the world

Different cultures have their own version of Bigfoot. In the Himalayas, it’s the Yeti. In Australia it’s the Yowie. In Indonesia, it’s the Ebu Gogo. In South America, it’s the Mapinguari. They all live in the wilderness, are all human-like creatures, and are all elusive.

What’s amazing is not just the similarities but how different cultures, thousands of miles apart, living in different time periods and speaking different languages, all seem to have their own tales.

Do they show real creatures? Could they be animals that are now extinct? Or, more likely, do they reflect our fear or wonder of the unknown?

First published in The Week Junior Science+Nature, issue 98, March 2026.