Status: Explained (probably) — most of the reports are judged to be hoaxes or misidentified wildlife, and the National Park Service calls it a hoax.
About the pin: A regional legend; the pin is in the Big Cypress area, one of the most-cited areas.
Credit: MikesMegapixels / Wikimedia Commons (via Panoramio) · Licence: CC BY 3.0 · Source
The skunk ape is a large, hairy, ape-like creature said to live in forests and swamps in the southeastern United States, most of all in Florida. It is called “skunk” for the foul smell that witnesses report.
Accounts go back to the early 1800s: in 1818, local newspapers reported a story from what is now Apalachicola, Florida, about a “man-sized monkey” raiding food stores and stalking fishermen. Reports were most common from the 1950s through the 1970s, and hundreds have been logged since. In 1977 a bill was proposed in the Florida legislature to make it illegal to “take, possess, harm or molest anthropoids or humanoid animals”; it did not pass.
Mainstream scientists consider the skunk ape folklore, misidentification and hoax. The skeptical investigator Joe Nickell suggests some sightings may be Florida black bears, possibly with mange. The National Park Service considers it a hoax.
Sources: Wikipedia: Skunk ape
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