Instead, after examining all the track casts and photos he could locate, he determined that not only were the tracks consistent anatomically, they also showed an ability to bend in the middle that human feet (and one-piece wooden feet) do not have. Better yet, he found that the tracks dictated a style of walking different from that of humans, but exactly like that of the creature in the Patterson movie. He has also continued the investigation initiated by Grover Krantz of fingerprint-like skin ridges found on a few footprint casts made in particularly fine material at widely-separated locations. Skin ridges of this sort do not occur on the feet of animals other than primates. They might be considered a non-slip surface for tree-climbers that have no claws. This work recently caught the attention of a police fingerprint expert from Texas, Jimmy Chilcutt, who had made a study of such "dermatoglyphics" on the feet of humans and apes. Thinking he could prove that the footprint casts were faked, he examined them, found that they showed the same unique pattern, and pronounced that they were proof of the existence in North America of an unknown great ape. Also on the scientific front, and ironically at the same time that the media were going ape over the yarn that Bigfoot had died with Ray Wallace, a really important story was published in one newspaper, broadcast one one cable network and totally ignored by everyone else. That story was about prominent figures in zoology and anthropology who are now saying that the Sasquatch evidence deserves serious study. On January 5, 2003, the Denver Post devoted several pages, including half the front page, to stories by Theo Stein, their environment writer, in which he quoted a series of primate experts giving thei stamp of approval:
"As far as I am concerned the existence of hominids of this sort is a very real possibility."-Dr. Jane Goodall, world famous for her studies of chimpanzees
"There have been so many sightings over the years. Even if you throw out 95 percent of them, there ought to be some explanation for the rest. The same goes for some of these tracks."-Dr. George Schaller, director of science for the Wildlife Conservation Society and first scientist to do a major study of wild mountain gorillas
"I think a serious scientific enquiry is definitely warranted:"-Dr. Esteban Sarmiento, primate specialist at the American Museum of Natural History
"I'm not one to pooh-pooh the potential that these large apes may exist:"-Dr. Russel Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and chairman of the Primate Specialist Group
"It's not conclusive, but it's consistent with what you'd expect to see if a giant biped sat down in the mud:"-Dr. Daris Swindler, author of "An Atlas of Primate Gross Anatomy," commenting on the back of a heel and part of the Achilles tendon shown in the Skookum cast
Unlike the Ray Wallace story, this one was not picked up by the Associated Press and no word of it reached readers of other newspapers.
Also in January 2003, the U.S. Discovery Channel aired a one-hour documentary produced by Doug Hajicek of White Wolf Entertainment and titled "Sasquatch, Legend Meets Science." The show included footage of all the people mentioned except Drs. Goodall and Mittermeier. It also called on the expertise of specialists in animation to study the gait of the creature in the Patterson movie, which they determined did indeed have a very non-human way of walking. It was also noted to have a bump that rose and fell on its right thigh which appeared to indicate a type of hernia sometimes suffered by human sprinters.
In the documentary Dr. Swindler went well beyond the statement quoted in the Denver Post, saying: "In my opinion the impression is not made by a deer, a bear or an elk nor was it made artificially. The Skookum body cast is that of an unknown hominoid primate." Like the Post story the documentary was not mentioned by other media, but unlike the story it will continue to be shown on television and is available in other forms.