Would Gregory Forth want a living Flores hominin captured and studied?

Gregory Forth says he is torn. A discovery would be scientifically remarkable and would vindicate his work, but he would rather any survivors be left alone. If they were studied, he favours long primatological field research in the style of Jane Goodall, where the animals slowly become used to observers. Joe Rogan adds that capture would raise hard questions, since such a being would be neither quite ape nor quite human.

• A planned search by a Dutch colleague would use camera traps and drones rather than capture.

▸In their words

“I think it would be much better if they still exist to leave them alone.” Gregory Forth · at 1:40:53 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode