KUALA LUMPUR, December 16 -- Malaysian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry thinks stories about the Bigfoot creatures in the jungles of Johor state are just a hoax, a newspaper report said Saturday.

There has been no concrete evidence to back up the creature's existence in the jungles of the southernmost state, said the ministry's parliamentary secretary Sazmi Miah.

No droppings or hair of the so-called ape man-like creatures have ever been found, Sazmi told the New Straits Times (NST).

He said the state Wildlife Department had been monitoring the jungles of Johor for the past 40 years and remote-sensing cameras were also set up there a few years ago to capture animal's movements.

However, so far all the sightings were of known animals, said Sazmi.

He believed the hoax was perpetrated by certain quarters to generate interest among foreign scientists who were interested in obtaining the jungle's lush flora and fauna.

On the other hand, the ministry's stand has not gone down well with the Johor state government which is keeping an open mind on the matter.

Johor's Tourism and Environment Committee Chairman Freddie Long refuted Sazmi's remarks, stressing no one can simply dismiss the existence of Bigfoot.

"We are very keen to pursue this and welcome researchers and scientists to contact us on their investigations into the Johor Bigfoot," he was quoted as saying by the NST report.

Bigfoot fever has been revived since last November when three workers in Johor were reported to have said they spotted some huge creatures in the jungles which left gap-toothed footprints up to 45cm long.