Book Review: Between Ape and Human

• Between Ape and Human
• 2022: Pegasus Books, 336pp.

This book postulates, albeit cautiously, the idea a descendant of the famed "hobbits" (Homo floresiensis) may still live on the Indonesian island of Flores. Dr. Gregory Forth is an anthropologist who did a lot of field work in one section of the island where the Lio people call small "ape-men" lia ho'a. (The name more commonly heard in cryptozoology, ebu gogo, is from a different tribe in a different location.)  Forth provides a great education for cryptozoological researchers about the need to understand indigenous accounts of animals based on the nuances of local culture and languages. The Lio, for example, have different words for head hair and body hair, which provide useful, but they also use the same word for “monkey” and “ape,” which can be confusing. (The Lio had almost no knowledge of apes until the modern era.) Forth also has a lot of interesting things to report about interpretations of the Ling Bua fossils, cultural views of unknown primates, and contamination. The original views of the Lio people about the lia ho’a have been slowly changed by folklore about elf-like creatures discussed on larger islands like Borneo where they’ve traveled for work. Modern entertainment has made inroads, too.

People advocating for a new species as startling as this one sometimes rely on masses of evidence: e.g., “There are 3,000 Bigfoot sightings, so they can’t all be wrong.” What Forth considers good eyewitness accounts number only in the dozens, so he focuses on drawing out commonalities and creating an accurate portrait. I think at times he tries too hard to minimize differences in reports and beliefs, but he’s the one who’s lived there and has the most expertise of anyone at understanding Lio accounts.  The “ape-men” seem to cluster around one meter tall for adult males, and they avoid humans except to raid gardens or grab a chicken. Females, especially, are extremely cautious: there are few good descriptions of them. They have minimal language and don’t appear to make stone tools or fire.  Frost feels they are, generally, a match for the hobbits based on our admittedly limited current knowledge. 

I would have liked more discussion about the ebu gogo – Forth treats only one sighting of those in any depth. Surely they are (if real, extant primates) the same species. Forth’s writing is good, although the opening gave me a mild case of emdash poisoning. This book definitely needed a map.

Forth uses the word “cryptozoology,” but with cation: he never makes comparisons to things like Bigfoot-hunting. The case that this particular creature exists rests on generally-held beliefs plus a handful of sightings. I can't find any reviews at all in the scientific press, which is not promising and may be due to the fragility of the evidence: there's not even a footprint cast or photo, so this book is more about the belief than the primate. In the end, the argument for current existence is thin, but Forth knows it, but he’s intrigued, and who would not be? 

Matt Bille

www.mattbille.com

Author, Of Books and Beasts: A Cryptozoologist's Library