The Billi Ape

Enter the Billi Ape. I found out about them because of a video @mattsquatchpresents made about them (I recommend checking it out, he did a good job).

According to Cryptid Wiki:
"Bili Apes have a very flat face, a wide muzzle, and their brow-ridge runs straight across and overhangs. They seem to turn grey very early in life, but instead of turning grey-black like a gorilla, they turn grey all over.

Bili Ape skulls have the prominent brow ridge and one skull possessed a sagittal crest similar to that of a robust great ape, or gorilla, but other morphological measurements are more like those of chimpanzees.

The Bili Ape has been reported to walk upright, bipedally, at times, with the looks of a giant chimpanzee. Later observations by (Cleve) Hicks, however, reveal that they are knuckle-walkers like other chimpanzees that only occasionally walk bipedally. Their footprints, which range from 28 to 34 centimeters (11 to 13 inches, give or take), are longer than the largest common chimp and gorilla footprints, which average 26 cm and 29 centimeters (10 to 11 inches, give or take), respectively.

In some ways, the apes behave more like gorillas than chimpanzees. For example, they build ground nests as gorillas do, using interwoven branches and/or saplings, bent down into a central bowl. However, they frequently nest in the trees as well. Often ground nests will be found beneath or in proximity to tree nests.

According to CBS News, (talking about American primatologist Cleve Hicks), quote:

    He found traces of the so called “mystery apes,” but the apes themselves remained elusive. It’s virtually impossible for a human to keep up with an ape as it moves through the vines, thorns and underbrush. It didn’t help that the forest is also home to armies of aggressive ants and swarms of bees that are attracted, in the dry season, to the moisture from humans’ sweat and eyes.

    Ammann’s obsession with the mystery apes attracted attention in conservation circles. He raised money and recruited scientists and volunteers who travelled to the Bili forest to join the effort. American primatologist Cleve Hicks arrived in 2004.

    “It was fascinating,” Hicks says of the mystery. “There was even speculation that maybe these apes were a hybrid between chimpanzees and gorillas, a new species of great ape, or something else.”

    Hicks set out to solve the mystery once and for all. With a team of local trackers, he hiked through the Bili forest for weeks at a time. Traveling with few provisions and often sleeping under a fruit tree in order to spot the apes when they came to feed in the morning, he says he contracted malaria 25 times. Behavior toward humans has baffled and intrigued scientists. There is little to no aggression, yet no fear either. "Gorilla males will always charge when they encounter a hunter, but there were no stories like that," about the Bili Apes, according to Ammann. Instead, they would come face-to-face with their human cousins, stare intently in half-recognition, then slide away quietly."

    Four years ago, Hicks and a team of scientists set up motion detecting cameras and finally managed to capture clear images of the Bili apes. DNA tests, meanwhile, confirmed that the apes were in fact chimpanzees, not a new species. The mystery had finally been solved, but Hicks' first-hand observations showed that these chimps displayed some very unique behavior.

    “They have a different diet, different culture,” Hicks says. “They often nest on the ground, like gorillas do and they use the longest tools we have seen in Africa to dip for ants or honey."

    Hicks also found that there are many more chimps in Bili than he thought. He claims they are part of the biggest population of wild chimps in the world. Some of the chimps were in areas so remote that Hicks believes they have never encountered humans or been hunted during their lifetime.

    “That’s why they have no fear of humans, just curiosity,” he says. “In fact, they seem like the boss when you get there. They are like ‘who are you to come into my kingdom?’”

Sound familiar? In a Docuseries I saw a while back they discussed the possibility that Phoenicians potentially brought apes to the U.S. The reason for this theory is that Egyptian art depicts what appears to be Phoenicians with upright apes on leashes (at least, that’s what they claim). If that truly is the case, this might explain the Southern Bigfoot phenomenon.

~Jephthah w/Idaho Bigfoot

(Originally written January 8th, 2022. New information added 9/26/2023)