Indonesian forests are not only loaded with natural resources and biodiversity, but it also hides many unsolved mysteries. A footage has recently taken the Internet by storm, showing a tiny human running through forest area in Sumatera, which was said to be a little people from Mante tribe in Aceh.
The existence of Mante tribe has not been proven yet. The tribe is only a part of the local urban legend told by grandparents to their grandchildren. But Aceh isn’t the only place with such urban legend. Indonesia has many other little people stories to be told. They are believed to be born in a small size, but not because of a genetic disorder.
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The Hobbits of Flores
Remnants of mysterious, human-like creature were discovered in 2013 in the island of Flores. Scientists have given the name Homo florensis, but the creatures are better known as the hobbit of Flores, after hobbits, small human-like creatures in The Lord of The Rings. They are believed to be the inhabitant of Flores and its surroundings for 100,000 years before mysteriously disappearing about 15,000 years ago.
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Homo florensis cave in Flores. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
The fossils were discovered in a huge have in Liang Bua, East Nusa Tenggara. The adult was only 1.1 meters tall and weighed at 25 kilograms. They had all of the human features, only in mini size. Scientists have been arguing about the creatures' origin, whether they were a clan of human with dwarfism, or a different, human-like species.
Dwarves in Sumatran Forests
The Island of Sumatra boasts many legends about small people or dwarves. In Aceh, we have mentioned the Mante tribe. They’re said to dwell in Leuser region. A footage has recorded a group of motocross enthusiast coming across a running small people, who then disappeared into bushes. Fauzan Amna, an ex-combatant in Aceh who had lived in Leuser forest for five years, claimed to have found a dead body of Mante female, entangled in a rhino trap in 2004.
Orang Pendek, literally means “little people,” is another urban legend related to dwarves who dwell in forests of the Bukit Barisan, a mountainous area on the western side of Sumatra, as well as in Mount Kerinci. Some mountaineers claimed to have met them, and there was even an expedition to find Orang Pendek involving biologist Richard Freeman and his colleagues. Orang Pendek is believed to have a muscular body, broad shoulders and long arms, with reddish hair. They’re about 1.25-meter tall.
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