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Yeti
The Yeti: What is it?
Here's the story behind the legend of the Yeti creature.
A legend of Tibet, the Yeti is another name given to the Abominable Snowman.
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The Yeti is said to live in the frigid, Himalayan
mountains, being approximately 7-10 feet tall,
and are known to have a strong pungent odor.
One could easily consider that the Yeti is the
same creature described elsewhere in the
world and known in North American by names
such as Bigfoot and Sasquatch. The Yeti most
recently inspired a roller coaster ride at Walt
Disney's Wild Kingdom and is coined
Expedition Everest.
Below Left: Destination Truth reveals Yeti footprint casts:
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Being an ape-like cryptid,
the Yeti is also called the
Meh-teh by people of the
region. Stories about the
Yeti are well known within
local lore and history.
Though the legends of the
Yeti have existed for
centuries, Western culture
was not aware of the
creature until the latter
1800s. The Yeti's
existence has not yet been
proven, though a scalp is
said to exist at Khumjung
monastery, while a Yeti hand
is said to have been stolen
from their possession, as
well.
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Often confused with a bear, the name Meh-teh means "man-bear" and is an accurate description of
the Yeti. Other translations of local names for the animal mean "wild man." Sherpa guides
described the yeti to Charles Howard-Bury in 1921 after they had come upon its tracks in the snow.
The Sherpa named the creature that made the tracks that looked like that of a rather large,
barefoot man, the "Wild Man of the Snows."
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In 1832, B. H. Hodgson's guides witnessed a large, upright
creature with long hair in northern Nepal. Hodgson did not see the
beast, but surmised it to be an orangutan. Could this sighting
have been the first description by Western explorers of the Yeti?
Footprints were discovered by Laurence Waddell in 1889, but he
mistook them for being that of a bear, despite his guide's
description of a large, ape-like creature. The Yeti was also spotted
in 1925 by photographer N. A. Tombazi. He described the Yeti as
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walking upright like a human, with dark colored fur, and wearing no clothes, according to his
description from 200-300 yards away. The footprints looked human though, and were only 6-7
inches long and 4 inches wide.
Below: The Pangboche Yeti Hand. Above Right: The Yeti scalp
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By 1951, Eric Shipton photographed Abominable Snowman prints in
the snow while climbing Mount Everest. His photographs of the
Abominable Snowman footprints are considered to be some of the
best evidence to date of the creatures existence. Over the next
couple years, others would also find Yeti tracks and photograph them.
By 1959, the supposed feces of a Yeti was collected during an
expedition. In another strange story, Jimmy Stewart, the actor,
supposedly smuggled the Pangboche Hand out of India to London for
Yeti explorers. The hand was originally stolen from a Tibetan
monastery. Scientific tests performed on the hand and scalp have
both proven to be inconclusive, while the feces had uncommon
bacteria.
There have been a few sightings over the last three decades, but to
this date, the proof of the existence of the Yeti has yet to be found.
One such expedition has been an on-going search for the Yeti by
Japanese researchers. Their Yeti story can be read here: Expedition
Yeti.
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Left:
Yeti posters and
photographs that can
be purchased.
August 2009, the Yeti
evidence is being
tested for DNA proof of
its existence. Read:
Himalayan Yeti.
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