Explorers and scientists are on the trail of legendary 'creature' Bigfoot in the forests of Oregon.

They say they may have captured video footage of the beast in an area where 'thousands' of Bigfoot sightings have been reported.

The ape-like Bigfoot creature is thought to be real by many Americans.

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In fact, more than 10,000 people have described eyewitness encounters with Bigfoot in the U.S. over the past 50 years.

Around a third of all Bigfoot sightings are reported in the state of Oregon, which makes it a prime target for Bigfoot hunters.

A team of experts has been searching for Bigfoot in the forests of central Oregon as part of a documentary for the Travel Channel.

The researchers tracked Bigfoot 'hotspots', analyzed footprints and used thermal cameras to hunt for the legendary beast.

One of the team members is Mireya Mayor, a primatologist at the Florida International University.

She said that an undiscovered primate hiding out in dense Oregon forests "is totally within the realm of possibility," speaking to Live Science.

Mayor previously discovered a new species of mouse lemur in 2001.

The mouse lemur is very small, but she still thinks that very large primates could hide from humans very effectively.

"We've seen that through history with other apes," Mayor explained.

"When I went in search of western lowland gorillas, because of the dense vegetation that they live in, the fact that they're not habituated and in fact avoid humans at all costs, there were times where we were no more than three feet away from a 450lb silverback and didn't know that it was there for a good hour or two."

During filming for the documentary, Mayor and her team managed to capture a move object on thermal cameras.

It's impossible to verify whether this really is evidence of Bigfoot, but it gives fans of the creature hope.

"And when we were in the field, we were able to capture something on video that fits this description," she told Live Science.

"Very big and moving in an apelike – if not bipedal – fashion.

"That, to me, is probably the most compelling piece of evidence that I've seen so far."

Mayor shared the footage with another primatologist, and she says he was impressed.

"When he saw the footage, he was completely blown away," Mayor said.

"[He] agreed with me that something apelike was far from its home."

The 'Expedition Bigfoot' documentary airs this week.

This story originally appeared in The Sun.