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Bigfoot believers gather at annual upstate New York retreat

Peter Wiemer delivers opening remarks at the 4th annual Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo in Chautauqua, N.Y., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. – Bigfoot believers have gathered in western New York and some insist the legendary Sasquatch’s footprint is getting bigger.

About a hundred people gathered at Saturday’s Chautauqua (shuh-TAH’-kwuh) Lake Bigfoot Expo to swap stories and hear expert lectures. The event is being held at a campsite not far from the Chautauqua Institution, renowned for its annual summer lineup devoted to scholarly pursuits.

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Founder Peter Wiemer says the expo started as a tourist draw, but he’s since met dozens of people who are certain they’ve seen Bigfoot in the area – far from the creature’s usual suspected range in the Pacific Northwest.

He’s now enough of a devotee that he’s tried to get New York to put Bigfoot on its list of endangered species.

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The state’s response? There’s no need to protect a “mythical animal.”

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