Environmentalist Vincent Chow and palaeoanthropologist Sean Ang, who are both involved in researching the question of unknown hairy hominoids in Malaysia, have created a website to focus their pursuit.

The researchers have also, through the mere need to purchase a domain name, coined a phrase for their local Malaysian Bigfoot, capturing the notion they are elusive giant bipeds from a certain area, by terming them, specifically, "Johor Hominid."

According to the New Straits Times, the website promotes the fact that the Johor Hominid phenomenon is "probably the most significant and mind-shattering discovery in anthropology."

Vincent Chow, above, from an earlier news item about the photographs of the Malaysian Mawas (now the Johor Hominid) he says he was shown.

Furthermore, "Chow said the first mission of the website was to protect the Johor Hominid so that its conservation was guaranteed by the Government as a part of world heritage."

According to some who have been able to access the website, there is not much new there to read yet. For others, it has been frustrating as it seems to be non-responsive and offline.

Since December 2005, several names have been associated with the reports of humanlike hairy creatures from the province of Johor on mainland Malaysia, including Wild People, Mawas, Orang Dalam, Hantu Jarang Gigi, and Bigfoot.

Click on image for full-size version

"Johor Hominid" probably will catch on because of its naturally simplistic combination of a regional name and a scientific-based anthropological noun, mixed with a little alliteration, as a focused cryptid label.

Okay, Johor Hominid it shall be.

Appreciation to artist Peter Loh for sharing his imagery and cartoons concerning the many interesting Johor Hominid events.

UPDATE, 7 PM EDT, July 2, 2006

Unfortunately, the text on the new website does, indeed, does list the binturong (Arctictis binturong), shown below, contextually, as a species of primate. Hopefully, this is a mistake that will be corrected quickly, and some more thought placed in translations and content for the new johorhominid.org website. Until the so-called earlier Mawas photographs that Vincent Chow was shown are brought forth, the begging question will be…where are they, why can’t they be published, and what do they show. Mistakes like this binturong incident only go further to distract from the serious research into the Johor Hominid question.