"The stories surrounding the big abominable creature -yeti have made trekking around Himalayas more exciting and adventurous."
Welcome to the mysterious land of the YETI (हिम-मानव)!!
The ape-like creature Yeti is said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal. It is presumed to be the size of large gorilla with a thick hairy body, and four fingers each on its both feet.
There is no solid proof and explanations that enable us neither to refute nor concur to the subject pertaining to the existence of Yeti, so the Yeti remains one of the most famous creatures of crypto zoology along with Lochness monsters and big footers.
Yeti has been depicted often times in movies and literature and video games. Many mountaineers and researchers even claim to have seen the traces of its body part or foot-prints. However, due lack of concrete evidences produced so far it remains a myth to both scientific community and the general public alike.
But the numerous close encounters of yetis in the Himalayas will not let you walk off the topic easily and it will make you wonder once again and compels you to verify on the exciting prospect of the existence of YETI.
Our lack of knowledge or reluctance to know about the big-creature is astonishing! We have been told that it is big, hairy and that it lives in mountains. Apart from such minor information on the subject, we don’t have much precise detail about it, and our knowledge on such a huge creature is so small and disapproving. Even after hundreds of years after the reported claim on the very existence of Yeti, our information is very limited and scanty.
The variable nature of the reports given by those who claim to have seen Yeti is another reason why people don’t believe in it. We can’t even precisely tell what it feeds on. It is known to eat yaks, sheeps and other animals that inhabit in mountains. Its weight varies from 200 to 400 pounds according to various reporters.
However, lack of evidence doesn’t necessarily mean lack of existence. Especially when the legend of the yeti has passed on through centuries to us along with notable visual reports, we can’t simply ignore it. Many adventurers realized the crux of the matter and set for the research to unravel the mystery surrounding the giant Yeti.
“Up to 1960s, belief in the yeti was relatively common. However, in 21st century it has declined a lot.”
In the year 1953, Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenjing Norgey reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. Tenjing Norgey also said that although he didn’t get to see Yeti for himself, his father had seen Yeti twice.
In 2007, American TV show host Josh Gates claimed he found 3 mysterious footprints in Himalayas. More notable breakthrough was about to happen when a finger long believed to be from a Yeti found in a monastery in Nepal was examined by researchers in 2011. The result disappointed Yeti believers once again as the DNA analysis proved that the finger was human.
Russian government delved in to find yeti few years back, and even organized conference of experts on the peculiar subject. Biologist and researcher John Bindernagel claimed that he saw evidence that the Yeti not only exist but also build nests and shelters out of twisted tree branches. Their statement that they had an indisputable proof of Yeti made headlines around the world. They claimed that they were 95% sure that yeti existed based on their evidence of some grey hairs found in a cave, but another scientist concluded that the evidence was faked.
Those who believe in Yeti would be enthralled if existence of yeti was proved. Yeti might be for real or not, but it has always made the trekking around Himalayas more adventurous and enthralling. Many mountaineers still hold on to the never fading hope of seeing Yeti once in their life time. The legend of the gigantic, rare and elusive YETI will continue to exist with adventurers.
Some notable evidences about YETI:
1. In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a member and photographer at Royal Geographic Society published a report that says that he saw a creature from about 180 to 270 m. distance at about 15,000 ft near Zemu Glacier. It also says that the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and without any clothes. Its footprint was noted two hours later and observed to be similar in shape to those of a man but six to seven inches longer and four inches wider.
Western interest in Yetis peaked in 1950s. Many mountaineers photographed number of large footprints while attempting to scale Mt. Everest.
Western interest in Yetis peaked in 1950s. Many mountaineers photographed number of large footprints while attempting to scale Mt. Everest.
2. In 1953, Tenzing Norgey and Sir Edmund Hillary reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mt. Everest. Tenjing Norgey also said that although he never got to see the whole of Yeti, he believed that the yeti was a large ape, and his father had seen Yeti twice.
3. In 1959, Yeti feces were collected by expedition team of Tom Slick. Fecal analysis found a parasite which could not be classified.
4. In 1960, Hilary mounted an expedition to collect and analyze physical evidence of the yeti. He sent a Yeti scalp (supposed) from Kumjung monastery for testing, the result however, indicated that the scalp was of serow (a goat like antelop) rather than yeti’s.
5. In December 2007, American television presentor Joshua Gates and his team reported finding a series of footprints in the Everest resgion of Nepal which matched the description of yeti. The footprints measured 33 cm in length and 25 cm width with 5 toes. Initial examination showed the footprint to be fake or man-made but later on when the same team made further investigation in 2009 on the hair samples, it was concluded that the hair contained an unknown DNA sequence.
6. In a conference in Russia in 2011, scientists declared having 95% evidence of existence of Yeti which was however disputed later.
A yeti was reportedly captured in Russia in 2011. Initially, a hunter claimed to have seen a bear like creature trying to kill one of his sheep. When he fired his gun, the creature then ran into the forest on two legs. The border soldiers were claimed to have captured a hairy 2-legged female creature similar to a gorilla. This was later dismissed as hoax and publicity stunt.
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