Everybody loves a good monster myth. Even if they say they don’t, every person at one point or another has gone on a YouTube binge and got lost in the conspiracies of Nessie or the Sasquatch.
Perhaps one of the most famous of these mythological creatures is the Yeti, but evidence is typically hard to come by for the photo-shy furry monster.
There’ve been a bunch of sightings of the creature roaming the hills of the Himalayas, but the evidence is shaky at best.
Now, the mystery has finally, conclusively been solved by a team at the University of Buffalo, who’ve examined nine Yeti specimens from an assortment of museums.
The specimens came from numerous sources around the Himalayas and included bone, hair, teeth and skin.
They were all tested for DNA and were found, unfortunately, to mostly have the DNA consistent with a bear – and in one instance, a dog.
Dr Charlotte Lindqvist, leader of the study, said:
Our findings strongly suggest that the biological underpinnings of the Yeti can be found in local bears and our study demonstrates genetics should be able to unravel other, similar mysteries.
Clearly a big part of the Yeti legend has to do with bears.
The paper was published in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B, and used the most ‘rigorous’ analysis possible to categorise these samples, according to CNN.
These findings completely devalue the specimens as evidence of the existence of the Yeti and means it’s back to the drawing board for those hunting for the creature.
However, there’s good news for wildlife lovers as Dr Lindqvist notes:
Bears in this region are either vulnerable or critically endangered from a conservation perspective, but not much is known about their past history.
The Himalayan brown bears, for example, are highly endangered.
Clarifying population structure and genetic diversity can help in estimating population sizes and crafting management strategies.
While the myth of the Yeti might well be dead, the myth of another mysterious creature is alive and well…
The mystery of the Loch Ness Monster is one of the most enduring enigmas of our time, attracting thousands of Nessie Hunters to the Scottish lake shore every year.
One man who knows his way around these waters better than most is Steve Feltham, who’s dedicated the past 26 years to discovering the highland beastie, from witnessing a ‘torpedo-shaped creature’ himself to debunking evidence of those who believe this mystery is the root into hollow earth or a UFO lurking at the bottom of the Loch.
Steve, who is originally from the South West of England, first came to Loch Ness in 1970 as a seven-year-old on a family holiday and was ‘blown away’ when he met a group of Monster Hunters who ‘changed the course of his life’.
The professional hunter explained how he goes about his daily search for Nessie, saying:
Over the years, the way I’ve gone about hunting is mostly sitting on the shore, binoculars, big camera, watching and waiting. I’ve had boats which have come and gone, so I’d float about using sonar.
I had a mate who had a microlight so we used to fly around the Loch. That gives you a good view of maybe 10 feet of water… Anything that gives me a possibility of seeing some new bit of evidence…
Not everything can be explained. There’s still the chance of discoveries. It comes down to unpredictability in life; not knowing how this adventure will unravel or what will happen next.
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Well let’s hope something new shows up which re-kindles the search for the infamous Yeti.
