Yeti

Purported Yeti scalp at Khumjung monastery

The Yeti is an alleged apelike animal said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology.

Most mainstream scientists, explorers and writers consider current evidence of the Yeti's existence to be weak and better explained as a hoax, legend or misidentification of known species. Nevertheless, the Yeti remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology.

Description

The Yeti has often been compared physiologically to the American Sasquatch, as both are large, hold a structural similarity to the great apes family, are covered in hair, have a sagittal crest atop their heads and possess an extremely potent smell. However, unlike sasquatch, there have been fewer visual sightings at close range of the yeti reported in the last century; much of current understanding of the yeti comes from artistic representations in ancient temples and monasteries, as well as stories and legends passed down by the people of the Himalayas. Because of this, there are many discrepancies in the region as to what exactly the yeti looks like. Some have suggested that the Yeti is light colored, so as to blend in with the snow and always walk upright, while others have stated that the yeti is smaller, of darker color, walks on four legs like a bear but stands on all two feet when scared or threatened, as gorillas are known to do. Because of the location of the yeti and the romantic adventures associated with expeditions to discover one, the image of the yeti as a monster has not as easily been dropped from popular opinion as has the American sasquatch.

Origins

The Himalayan range at Yumesongdong in Sikkim, in the Yumthang River valley.

For centuries, the people who have lived in the Himalayan region of Nepal, India, and Tibet have believed that the mountains were sacred and mysterious places, due possibly to the fact it is one of the most remote and inaccessible locations on the planet, and remain so to this day. Such a reverence with nature has historically shown a strong projection of supernatural elements and beliefs into similar regions, and such is the case in the Himalayas where many magical creatures were said to inhabit the mountains, one being the yeti. Different cultures in the region have held different opinions of the yeti over the years. The Sherpas for example have an almost ambivalent feeling towards the creature, often using it as bed time story to help keep children disciplined. The Tibetans, on the other hand, have often viewed the yeti as a creature to be dreaded, as it is seen as ferocious in mural artwork. In Nepal, there are stories of yetis coming down from the mountain to feed off of livestock, occasionally terrorizing the local population directly. It should be noted, that what is often lumped into the idea of the yeti, may actually be many different types of creatures and legends. Interpretations and translations by Westerners over the years have left the origin idea of the yeti somewhat muddled. This is best seen in the creature's name. Yeti derives from yeh-teh which refers to an animal that resembles the American sasquatch on a smaller scale, while meh-teh translates as "man beast", which, from the vantage point of popular perception, is a more fitting description, yet the term yeti has seemingly survived as the popular favorite

The "Abominable Snowman"

The yeti was first introduced to the western world in 1921, by Henry Newman, a reporter for the Calcutta Statesmen. Writing about a British expedition into the Himalayas, led by Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard Bury, Newman noted that the party observed figures moving above them at about 20,000 feet. When the climbing party finally arrived at the spot, they found foot prints much larger than any human could have made. The Sherpas attending the climb told Bury that the prints were made by the creature known as metoh-kangmi, which was actually a mistranslation on the part of Bury, one of many throughout the years that would add to the infamously of the yeti.Metoh-kangmi is a generic term used in the region for many creatures, but Bury mistook it for the name of the creature. Newman in turn mistranslated Bury's misunderstanding, believing that metch kangmi was Tibetan for abominable snowman. . Thus, the western world was exposed to a mysterious creature that captured the imagination and attention of many. (Ironically, the intense interest that the abominable snowman story created also helped develop interest in the sasquatch, which was viewed as the American Yeti). For decades after the story, expeditions from around the world would come to the Himalayas, some to climb, for the first time, the world's largest mountain, Mount Everest, some in search of the snowman.

Expeditions and Evidence

In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society, allegedly saw a creature at about 15,000 ft (4572 meter) (near Zemu Glacier. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 or 300 yards, for about a minute. "Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes. It showed up dark against the snow, and as far as I could make out, wore no clothes." About two hours later, Tombazi and his companions descended the mountain, and saw what they assumed to be the creature's prints, described as "similar in shape to those of a man, but only six to seven inches long by four inches wide.... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."

Western interest in the Yeti peaked dramatically in the 1950s. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, Eric Shipton took photographs of a number of large prints in the snow, at about 6,000 m (19,685 ft) above sea level. These photos have been subject to intense scrutiny and debate. Some argue they are the best evidence of Yeti's existence, while others contend the prints to be from a mundane creature, and have been distorted by the melting snow.

File:1954-lowres-JAJ-daily-mail-pangboche-scalp-+hand.jpg

The Pangboche Hand and Yeti "Scalp", 1954

Perhaps the largest expedition in search of the yeti was the Daily Mail Snowman Expedition of 1954. Mountaineering leader John Angelo Jackson, made the first trek from Everest to Kangchenjunga during which he photographed symbolic paintings of the Yeti at Thyangboche. Jackson tracked and photographed many footprints in the snow, most of which were identifiable. However, there were many large footprints which could not be identified. The flattened footprint-like indentations were attributed to erosion and subsequent widening of the original footprint by wind and particles. Most surprising of the expedition however was the teams acquisition of hair specimens from a scalp found in Pangboche monastery. The hair was analyzed by Professor Frederic Wood Jones, F.R.S, D.Sc., an expert in human and comparative anatomy. The research consisted of taking microphotographs of the hairs and comparing them with hairs from known animals such as bears and orangutans. Professor Woods-Jones concluded that the hairs of the Pangboche scalp were not actually from a scalp. He contended that some animals do have a ridge of hair extending from the pate to the back, but no animals have a ridge (as in the Pangboche relic) running from the base of the forehead across the pate and ending at the nape of the neck. The hairs were black to dark brown in color in dim light, and fox red in sunlight. None of the hairs had been dyed and were probably exceedingly old. During the study, the hairs were bleached, cut into sections and analyzed microscopically. Wood-Jones was unable to pinpoint the animal from which the Pangboche hairs were taken. He was, however, convinced that the hairs were not of a bear or anthropoid ape. He suggested that the hairs were not from the head of a coarse-haired hoofed animal, but from its shoulder.

Dr. Biswamoy Biswas examining the Pangboche Yeti scalp during the Daily Mail Snowman Expedition of 1954

Beginning in 1957, wealthy American oilman Tom Slick funded a few missions to investigate Yeti reports. In 1959, supposed Yeti feces were collected by Slick's expedition; fecal analysis found a parasite which could not be classified, which may help in determining the existence of the yeti since parasites are most often unique to their host and help in identification purposes .

In 1960, Sir Edmund Hillary mounted an expedition to collect and analyze physical evidence of the Yeti. He sent a Yeti "scalp" from the Khumjung monastery to the West for testing, whose results indicated the scalp to be manufactured from the skin of the serow, a goat-like Himalayan antelope. But some disagreed with this analysis. Shackley said that the "hairs from the scalp look distinctly monkey-like, and that it contains parasitic mites of a species different from that recovered from the serow.

In 1970, British mountaineer Don Whillans claims to have witnessed a creature when scaling Annapurna. While scouting for a campsite, Whillans heard some odd cries which his Sherpa guide attributed to a Yeti's call. That very night, Whillans saw a dark shape moving near his camp. The next day, he observed a few human-like footprints in the snow, and that evening, viewed with binoculars a bipedal, apelike creature for 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.

Skeptics

Many modern scientists discredit the idea of the yeti for numerous reasons. First, the evidence of the yeti's existence is thin. Large footprints in the snow are vague at best, and the alleged physical remains found in local temples have proven inconclusive. Since a majority of science looks for the simplest answer, the renowned Okum's Razor theory, it is far easier to suggest that what has been believed to be sightings of yetis were actually misidentification of known animals of the region, particularly bears. To date, the old great ape known to even inhabit an area of such extreme climate conditions such as the Himalayas are humans; all others live in tropical regions, and early hominids that did in fact move into colder areas are now extinct.

In popular culture

Perhaps due to the romance of travel and exploration attached to the area the yeti is alleged to inhabit, the yeti has remained more of an iconic and legendary figure. The fervor over the possible existence of Bigfoot in America does not so easily correlate to the yeti, although some cryptozoologists still hold out on the possibility that such a creature is in fact real. Nevertheless, the yeti is largely seen in pop culture as a mysterious creature, living in a far away land. It has been represented in many films over the years, including the 1957 horror classic The Abominable Snowman. Such representations confirm that the idea of the yeti satisfies some psychological need to believe in myths and legends in an era where science has debunked so much, as well as the possibility that there are regions left on our increasingly modernized planet that are not fully explored, in which lie mysteries yet to be explained.

See also

• Bigfoot
• Yeren
• Yowie

External links

• Yeh-teh "that thing out there"
• The Unmuseum's Yeti page
• Yeti, The Abominable Snowman - from Occultopedia
• A theory of Yeti (This site is in French)
• The Cryptid Zoo: Yetis
• Migo

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