Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is the name given to an
ape-like creature that some people believe inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific
Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large,
hairy, bipedal humanoid. The term sasquatch is an anglicized derivative
of the Halkomelem word sásq’ets.
Scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot and consider it to be a
combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living
animal, because of the lack of physical evidence and the large numbers of
creatures that would be necessary to maintain a breeding population. A few
scientists, such as Jane Goodall and Jeffrey Meldrum, have expressed interest
and belief in the creature, with Meldrum expressing the opinion that evidence
collected of alleged Bigfoot encounters warrants further evaluation and testing.