Does the yeti exist? Scientists use DNA evidence in bid to solve mystery of the abominable snowman
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/28/does-the-yeti-exist-scientists-use-dna-evidence-in-bid-to-solve/ Juliet Eysenck
29 May 2016 • 1:46pm
It is one of the world's greatest enduring mysteries. Stories of a yeti, or an abominable snowman, have been entrenched in Himalayan folklore for hundreds of years - but there has never been any definitive proof of its existence.
Now, a team of leading international scientists will use advanced DNA analysis to determine whether there is a rational explanation behind the theories.
And there have been many theories put forward - that the yeti is a man, a beast or simply a myth - but little scientific evidence to back up any of these claims.
A new Channel 4 programme, Yeti: Myth, Man or Beast?, follows a team of geneticists led by Mark Evans as they test DNA evidence that has been linked to the creature.
Ahead of the show, here's a look at everything we know about the yeti so far.
What is the yeti?
Tibetans refer to the yeti as 'miché' – which translates loosely as 'man-bear'. They also use the term 'mirka' – which loosely boils down to 'wild man'.
In China, the yeti is known as 'yeren' or 'wild man'. Other names that the yeti goes by include Almas (Mongolia), Batutut (Vietnam), Bigfoot (North america), Yowie (Australia) and Fear liath (Scotland).
In all cases, the creature is some form of wild man, beast or hybrid of the two, that lives in the mountains.
Footsteps in the snow
The yeti is known by different names in different parts of the Himalayas Credit: Channel 4
Is the yeti an animal?
There has never been any conclusive evidence to show that the yeti is an animal.
It has been suggested that the yeti is the Chu-Teh, a Langur monkey that lives at lower altitudes, the Tibetan blue bear or the Himalayan brown bear.
Where can I find the yeti?
The creature tends to hang out – if it hangs out anywhere – amid the icy peaks of the Himalayas, which means Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and India. Sightings have also been claimed further afield in Mongolia.
Earlier this year, a yeti-like monster was spotted roaming the slopes of the ski resort of Formigal, in north-eastern Spain.
How should I react if I see the yeti?
The best advice is not to go looking for the yeti in the first place. Alternatively, if you do see one, then run.
The Nepalese believe the yeti is nocturnal, it whistles and growls, and can kill with a single punch. Tibetan folklore says that anyone seeing a “mirka” will die or be killed.
Has the yeti ever been seen?
There have been plenty of supposed sightings of the beast - and of course, plenty of hoaxes.
Stories of the yeti have been around for hundreds of years, so the idea of something existing up in those mountains is not utterly improbable.
More common than sightings are mysterious footprints spotted on the icy trails of the Himalayas.
TIMELINE | Sightings of the yeti
Circa 326BC
Alexander the Great bust Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Alexander the Great is said to have coveted a yeti during his conquest of the Indus Valley in 326 BC, but locals told him the creatures could not survive at the low altitudes.
1925
The first publicised report of a Yeti sighting came from a German photographer. N.A. Tombazi, a photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society, provided one of the clearest descriptions, of a “figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright ... It showed up dark against the snow, and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes.”
1938-39
Heinrich Himmler AP Photo
Heinrich Himmler is said to have had an interest in finding the creature, with Ernst Schaefer, a hunter and zoologist, sent out to Tibet investigate.
1939-45
During the Second World War, Sławomir Rawicz, a Polish soldier, who claims he escaped from a Siberian gulag and walked across the Himalayas to India, said his path was blocked, at one point, by two yetis.
1951
Eric Shipton Eric Shipton Hulton Archive
Photographs published of several large footprints, taken by Eric Shipton, a respected mountaineer, sparked renewed interest, though critics claim the prints were distorted by melting snow.
1953
Hillary and Norgay Reuters
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. Sir Edmund later discounted the reports.
1950s
After one expedition, James Stewart, the actor, is said to have helped smuggle parts of the supposed remains of a yeti from India to London, by concealing them in his luggage.
1986
Reinhold Messner Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph
Reinhold Messner, a celebrated mountaineer, claimed to have had a face-to-face encounter with a yeti.
2008
Footprint AFP/Getty Images
Japanese adventurers said they discovered footprints they believe were made by the yeti. The 'yeti' footprint on the left, photographed on the Dhaulagiri mountain, northwest of Pokhara, is shown in comparison to a human footprint, right.
"The footprints were about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long and looked like a human's," Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Project Nepal, told AFP at the time.
2010
A creature dubbed the 'oriental yeti' was discovered in ancient woodlands in remote central China. The hairless beast was trapped by hunters in Sichuan province after locals reported spotting what they thought was a bear.
2011
Nikolai Valuev AP
Nikolai Valuev, the so-called 'Beast from the East' and former heavyweight boxing champion, took part in an expedition to track down the yeti. He is understood to have been unsuccessful.
2016
A figure walks through trees on a mountain
A large yeti-like monster was spotted roaming the slopes of the ski resort of Formigal, in north-eastern Spain. The footage appears to show a large, shaggy white figure walking upright on two legs and calmly making its way between fir trees on the snowy slopes.
The posting sparked plenty of debate online about exactly what the creature could be. Some argued that it was a polar bear, others a soldier completing manoeuvres in mountain camouflage and some said it was just a man having a laugh in a furry suit.
The owners of the resort, Aramon, launched a frantic search of the area where the creature was sighted but found nothing matching its description and the mystery continues.
