Editing Bigfoot (section)

===Formal studies===

[[File:Bigfoot trap.jpg|thumb|right|2007 photograph of the Bigfoot trap within the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest.]]
One study was conducted by John Napier and published in his book ''Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality'' in 1973.<ref>Napier, John. ''Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality.'' 1973, {{ISBN|0-525-06658-6}}</ref> Napier wrote that if a conclusion is to be reached based on scant extant "'hard' evidence," science must declare "Bigfoot does not exist."<ref>Napier, 197</ref> However, he found it difficult to entirely reject thousands of alleged tracks, "scattered over 125,000 square miles" (325,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) or to dismiss all "the many hundreds" of eyewitness accounts. Napier concluded, "I am convinced that Sasquatch exists, but whether it is all it is cracked up to be is another matter altogether. There must be ''something'' in north-west America that needs explaining, and that something leaves man-like footprints."<ref>Napier, 205</ref>

In 1974, the [[National Wildlife Federation]] funded a field study seeking Bigfoot evidence. No formal federation members were involved and the study made no notable discoveries.<ref>Bourne, Geoffrey H, ''The Gentle Giants: The Gorilla Story'' 1975, {{ISBN|0-399-11528-5}}, p. 295</ref> Also in 1974, the now defunct North American Wildlife Research Team constructed a "[[Bigfoot trap]]" in the [[Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest]]. It was baited with animal carcasses and captured multiple bears, but no Bigfoot.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Willford |first1=Tyler |title=Oregon is Home to the World's Only Bigfoot Trap |url=https://thatoregonlife.com/2018/05/bigfoot-trap/ |website=thatoregonlife.com |access-date=March 8, 2022 |date=May 5, 2018 |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308210859/https://thatoregonlife.com/2018/05/bigfoot-trap/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Upkeep of the trap ended in the early 1980s, but in 2006 the [[United States Forest Service]] repaired the trap, which today is a tourist destination along the [[Collings Mountain]] hiking trail.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bigfoot Trap Hike |url=https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Bigfoot_Trap_Hike |website=oregonhikers.org |access-date=March 8, 2022 |date=August 15, 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308210859/https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Bigfoot_Trap_Hike |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beginning in the late 1970s, physical anthropologist Grover Krantz published several articles and four book-length treatments of Bigfoot. However, his work was found to contain multiple scientific failings including falling for hoaxes.<ref name="Buhs2009227">{{cite book |last1=Buhs |first1=Joshua Blu |title=Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend |year=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-50215-1 |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RI4SlHwH7h0C&pg=PA227}}</ref>

A study published in the ''[[Journal of Biogeography]]'' in 2009 by J.D. Lozier et al. used [[Species distribution modelling|ecological niche modeling]] on reported sightings of Bigfoot, using their locations to infer preferred ecological parameters. They found a very close match with the ecological parameters of the American black bear. They also note that an upright bear looks much like a Bigfoot's purported appearance and consider it highly improbable that two species should have very similar ecological preferences, concluding that Bigfoot sightings are likely misidentified sightings of black bears.<ref name="Lozier2009">{{cite journal|last1=Lozier|first1=J. D.|last2=Aniello|first2=P.|last3=Hickerson|first3=M. J.|title=Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling|journal=Journal of Biogeography|date=September 2009|volume=36|issue=9|pages=1623–1627|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02152.x|doi-access=free|bibcode=2009JBiog..36.1623L }}</ref>

In the first systematic genetic analysis of 30 hair samples that were suspected to be from Bigfoot-like creatures, only one was found to be primate in origin, and that was identified as human. A joint study by the [[University of Oxford]] and [[Cantonal Museum of Zoology|Lausanne's Cantonal Museum of Zoology]] and published in the ''[[Proceedings of the Royal Society|Proceedings of the Royal Society B]]'' in 2014, the team used a previously published cleaning method to remove all surface contamination and the [[mitochondrial DNA|ribosomal mitochondrial DNA]] 12S fragment of the sample. The sample was sequenced and then compared to [[GenBank]] to identify the species origin. The samples submitted were from different parts of the world, including the United States, Russia, the Himalayas, and Sumatra. Other than one sample of human origin, all but two are from common animals. Black and brown bears accounted for most of the samples, other animals include cow, horse, dog/wolf/coyote, sheep, goat, deer, raccoon, [[porcupine]], and [[tapir]]. The last two samples were thought to match a fossilized genetic sample of a 40,000 year old polar bear of the [[Pleistocene]] epoch;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sykes |first1=B |last2=Mullis |first2=R |last3=Hagenmuller |first3=C |last4=Melton |first4=T |last5=Sartori |first5=M |title=Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=281 |issue=1789 |page=20140161 |date=July 2, 2014 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2014.0161|pmid=25994680 |pmc=4455819 }}</ref> a second test identified these hairs as being from a rare type of brown bear.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Scientists challenge 'Abominable Snowman DNA' results |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30479718 |author=Steven McKenzie |work=[[BBC News]] |date=December 17, 2014 |access-date=September 14, 2016 |archive-date=October 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001062344/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30479718 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Yeti Debate Swirls: Study Reveals Origin of Mysterious Hairs |url=http://www.livescience.com/50148-yeti-genetics-questioned.html |author=Laura Geggel |publisher=[[Live Science]] |date=March 16, 2015 |access-date=September 14, 2016 |archive-date=October 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010211704/http://www.livescience.com/50148-yeti-genetics-questioned.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] declassified an analysis it conducted on alleged Bigfoot hairs in 1976. Bigfoot researcher Peter Byrne sent the FBI 15 hairs attached to a small skin fragment and asked if the bureau could assist him in identifying it. Jay Cochran Jr., assistant director of the FBI's Scientific and Technical Services division responded in 1977 that the hairs were of deer family origin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Little |first1=Becky |title=Bigfoot Was Investigated by the FBI. Here's What They Found |url=https://www.history.com/news/bigfoot-fbi-file-investigation-discovery |website=History.com |publisher=[[History (American TV network)|History]] |access-date=March 23, 2021 |date=January 22, 2020 |archive-date=March 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311032150/https://www.history.com/news/bigfoot-fbi-file-investigation-discovery |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Radford hairs 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Radford |first1=Ben|author-link= Ben Radford |title=Old FBI Documents Reveal Mundane Bigfoot 'Investigation' |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=2019 |volume=43 |issue=5 |page=11 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquirer}}</ref>