A researcher who studies statistical patterns in wildlife sighting reports says black bears, not an unknown primate, may account for a large share of purported Bigfoot sightings across North America.
According to Floe Foxon, the analysis drew on a geographic database of Bigfoot sighting reports compiled by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization. Foxon said the data showed that the highest concentrations of reported sightings tend to occur in areas with large black bear populations.
Foxon published the findings online, proposing that the American black bear could explain a significant number of the reports historically attributed to Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. The study reportedly expanded on earlier work: Foxon said prior analyses had already identified a correlation between Sasquatch sightings and black bear populations specifically in the Pacific Northwest, using ecological niche models.
In the new study, Foxon said sightings across the entire United States and Canada were statistically regressed against bear populations in each state or province, with adjustments made for human population and land area. That analysis, according to Foxon, found a statistically significant positive association between sightings and bear numbers — on average, one sighting was expected for every few hundred bears in a given state or province.
Foxon said the results align with earlier studies by Blight, published in 2005, and by Lozier and colleagues, published in 2009.
Based on these statistical patterns, Foxon argued that many reported Sasquatch encounters are likely cases of misidentified black bears rather than deliberate hoaxes, though the study reportedly did not rule out hoaxing as a factor in some reports.
Foxon also noted a complication: sightings have been reported in some states with no known breeding black bear populations. Foxon suggested those cases might be explained by misidentification of other animals, including humans, among other possibilities.
Summarizing the conclusion, Foxon said that if Bigfoot exists, it may simply be many bears.