Curiosity
Yeti a bear hybrid?: New Proof That The Abominable Snowman Exists
Yeti Is Real: New Proof That The Abominable Snowman Exists
Researcher Claims Abominable “Yeti” Snowman Lives in Himalayas
For many years explorers have insisted that a strange creature called a ‘yeti’ and nicknamed the Abominable Snowman, roams the uninhabitable terrain of the Himalaya Mountains. But now a British scientist claims he has found proof that DNA tests done on hairs found from unidentified animals match those of ancient polar bears, proving that their descendants are still roaming the mountainous regions of northernmost India.
Professor Bryan Sykes says his recent research studies lead him to believe that ancient polar bears have cross bread with brown bears to create a new hybrid creature now known as the Abominable Snowman.
The professor said: “This is an exciting and completely unexpected result that gave us all a surprise. There’s more work to be done on interpreting the results. I don’t think it means there are ancient polar bears wandering around the Himalayas.
“But we can speculate on what the possible explanation might be. It could mean there is a sub species of brown bear in the High Himalayas descended from the bear that was the ancestor of the polar bear. Or it could mean there has been more recent hybridisation between the brown bear and the descendent of the ancient polar bear.”
The professor compared the mummified remains of a creature given to him by an explorer some four decades ago with hairs discovered from a live creature found just a decade ago. An explorer climbing Mount Everest in the early 1950s created growing interest in the “yeti” legend when he photographed unusual footprints in the snow.
Legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who became the first man to climb Everest without oxygen, has studied yetis since he had a terrifying encounter with a mysterious creature in Tibet in 1986.
When I saw a yeti for myself that night [in 1986], I was only looking and thinking, What’s that? But I couldn’t see colors or faces. I could only see a shadow because it was very late.
When I approached the place where the yeti stood before it ran away, I found a footprint, exactly like the footprints they took photographs of in the ’50s. And I said to myself, “Strange.” They were footprints like those of a two-leg-going animal.
Purported Yeti scalp at Khumjung monastery (PHOTO courtesy Nuno Nogueira)
His own research backs up the Prof Sykes’ theory. He uncovered an image in a 300-year-old Tibetan manuscript of a “Chemo” – another local name for the yeti, with text alongside it which was translated to read: “The yeti is a variety of bear living in inhospitable mountainous areas.”
Prof Sykes added: “Bigfootologists and other enthusiasts seem to think that they’ve been rejected by science. Science doesn’t accept or reject anything, all it does is examine the evidence and that is what I’m doing.”
If Professor Sykes’ research proves true, it means that a fourth previously unknown variety of hybrid bear is alive and well in the Himalayas, to join the three varieties known to inhabit the area: the sloth bear, the brown bear and the Asiatic black bear.
Photograph taken of the Pangboche Yeti Scalp and Dr. Biswamoy Biswas (zoologist) during the 1954 Daily Mail Snowman Expedtition’, photograph by John Angelo Jackson (mountaineering leader of the snowman expedition)
On The Web:
Has the Yeti mystery been solved? New research finds ‘Bigfoot’ DNA matches rare polar bear
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10384000/Yeti-lives-Abominable-Snowman-is-part-polar-bear-and-still-roams-the-Himalayas.html
Climbing Legend, Yeti Hunter
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0005/q_n_a.html
