A photo taken on March 28th by one of the visitors to Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. (Eric Himan / Facebook) — A photo taken on March 28th by one of the visitors to Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. *(Eric Himan / Facebook)*

This has been confirmed as a hoax; see update below for details.

Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shared a number of posts to their Facebook page yesterday from people who claimed to have photographed a hairy humanoid while out hiking over the weekend.

Over the weekend, we received dozens of calls and messages reporting a "sighting" at Turkey. While we investigate the...
Posted by Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area on Monday, March 30, 2020

The park obscured the names of those who had posted pictures of the purported bigfoot, but the Singular Fortean Society was able to track down one of the original posts.

That post, and its accompanying photograph, was shared by Eric Himan last Sunday. Himan claimed he had taken the picture while out for a “birthday walk” the day before.

Himan is the Creative Production Manager for Guthrie Green and Gathering Place, two other parks near the riverfront in Tulsa. This has fueled speculation that the photographs were hoaxed and shared as a promotional event for the park, ostensibly as a way to bring attention to the social distancing rules currently in place.

Went for a birthday walk yesterday with Ryan and then this.......Is anyone going to Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area and side note: Is this THE Bigfoot?!?! #socialdistancesasquatch
Posted by Eric Himan on Sunday, March 29, 2020

Those skeptical of the photographs have also mentioned the supposed bigfoot’s size, gait, and posture as reasons to disbelieve their veracity. Many currently speculate that the purported cryptid is someone wearing a suit, citing the mask-like appearance of the figure's face in Himan's photograph, and comparing it to commonly available ape and sasquatch costumes.

Update 4/7/20:

An April 2nd tweet by reporter Ethan Hutchins with KTUL News has confirmed that, as suspected, the purported Sasquatch sightings were a hoax to promote social distancing rules in place at the park.

I found the man behind the viral “Bigfoot” costume at @TurkeyMTN Today the Tulsa River Parks department is rolling out a campaign to encourage people to get out and be active on their trails, but keep 6 feet a part @KTULNews pic.twitter.com/P0hoomSGw7
— Ethan Hutchins (@ehutchinsnews) April 2, 2020

Similar promotional hoaxes have been seen out of Texas in 2017 and Washington State earlier this year. The stunts are rapidly becoming a popular way for state parks and other departments to attract attention.

To report your own encounter with the impossible, reach out to us directly at the Singular Fortean Society through our contact page.

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