Myakka skunk ape photographs

Record summary

Two photographs mailed anonymously to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in 2000 purportedly showed a large, hairy, ape-like figure in a Florida backyard or wooded setting. They became known as the Myakka skunk ape photographs and circulated widely in cryptozoological literature and online archives. The images matter for comparison because they show how anonymous submissions acquire evidentiary status through repeated reproduction. Their provenance, photographer, exact location, and subject remain uncertain, and critics have suggested a person in a costume or manipulated presentation rather than an unknown primate.