Yeti 65755 226075902 2008-07-16T18:46:51Z ClueBot 4928500 Reverting possible vandalism by [[Special:Contributions/86.157.170.51|86.157.170.51]] to version by Amatulic. False positive? [[User:ClueBot/FalsePositives|Report it]]. Thanks, [[User:ClueBot]]. (441720) (Bot) {{Otheruses}} {{redirect|Abominable Snowman|the [[Doctor Who]] serial of similar name|The Abominable Snowmen}} {{Infobox Paranormalcreatures |Creature_Name = '''Yeti''' |Image_Name = Yetiscalp.JPG |Image_Caption = Purported Yeti [[scalp]] at [[Khumjung]] [[monastery]] |Grouping = [[Cryptid]] |Sub_Grouping = [[Hominid]] |AKA = Abominable Snowman <br>Migoi, Meh-teh et al. |Country = [[Nepal]], [[Tibet]] |Region = [[Himalayas]] |Habitat = Mountains |Status = Unconfirmed }} The '''Yeti''' or '''Abominable Snowman''' is an apelike animal [[cryptid]] said to inhabit the [[Himalayas|Himalaya]] region of [[Nepal]] and [[Tibet]]. The names ''Yeti'' and ''Meh-Teh'' are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sherpa and the Snowman|author=Charles Stonor|year=1955 [[Daily Mail]] |publisher=Hollis and Carter}}</ref> and are part of their history and [[mythology]]. Nepalese have various names for Yeti like "Bonmanche" which means "wild man" or "[[Kanchanjunga]] rachyyas" which means "Kanchanjunga's demon." Although the scientific community largely dismisses the Yeti as a fraud supported by [[legend]] and weak evidence,<ref name=bigfoot>{{cite book |title=Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality |author=John Napier |year= 2005 |id=ISBN 0-525-06658-6}}.</ref> it remains one of the most famous creatures of [[cryptozoology]], the study of unconfirmed animals. The Yeti can be considered a Himalayan parallel to the [[Sasquatch]] or man-beast. ==Name variations== The name Yeti is derived from the Tibetan ''je-tiet'' ({{bo|t=གཡའ་དྲེད་|w=g.ya' dred}}), a compound of the words ''yeh'' ({{bo|t=གཡའ་|w=g.ya'}}), meaning "rocky" or "rocky place", and ''pe-tah'' ({{bo|t=དྲེད་|w=dred}}), which translates as "bear", the full name being "rock bear".<ref name=pranBobay >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Rev. Swami Pranavananda|title=The Abominable Snowman | journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume=vol. 54|year=1957}}</ref><ref name=stonorState >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Stonor, Charles|title=|date=January 30|year=1954|journal=The Statesman in Calcutta}}</ref><ref name=swanp882884 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Swan, Lawrence W.,|title=Abominable Snowman|date=April 18|year=1958|journal=Science New Series|nolume=127, No. 3303|pages=pp. 882–884}}</ref><ref name=IzzardP2122 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter 2 | pages=pp. 21–22|journal=Hodder and Stoughton}}</ref><ref name=heuvelmansP164 >{{cite book |author= Bernard Heuvelmans | title=On the Track of Unknown Animals| pages=p. 164|publisher= Rupert Hart-Davis | year=1958}}</ref> Pranavananda<ref name=pranBobay /> states that the words "ti", "te" and "teh" are derived from the spoken word 'tre' (spelled "dred"), Tibetan for bear, with the 'r' so softly pronounced as to be almost inaudible, thus making it "te" or "teh".<ref name=pranBobay /><ref name=heuvelmansP164 /><ref name=izzardp199 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter2 | pages=p 199|journal=Hodder and Stoughton}}</ref> Other terms used by [[Himalaya]]n peoples do not translate exactly the same, but refer to legendary and indigenous wildlife: * '''Kang Admi, Mir ka, Migoi, Dzu-teh, Meh-teh''' ({{bo|t=མི་དྲེད་|w= mi dred}}) translates as "man-bear"<ref name=swanp882884 /><ref name=heuvelmansP164 /><ref >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter2 | pages=p 22|journal=Hodder and Staoughton}}</ref> * '''Dzu-teh''' - 'dzu' translates as "cattle" and the full meaning translates as "cattle bear" and is the [[Himalayan Red Bear]].<ref name=stonorState /><ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Rev, Swami Pranavananda |year = 1955|title=|volume=30| pages = p. 99|journal=Indian Geographical Journal, July-Sept}}</ref><ref name=izzardp199 /><ref name=jacksonMM >{{cite book |author=John A. Jackson|title=More than Mountains |year=1955|publisher=George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd) }}</ref><ref name=heuvelmansP164 /> * '''Migoi''' or '''Mi-go''' ({{bo|t=མི་རྒོད་|w=mi rgod}}) (pronounced mey-goo) translates as "wild man".<ref name=jacksonMM /><ref name=izzardp199 /> * '''Mirka''' - another name for "wild-man", however as local legend has it "anyone who sees one dies or is killed". The latter is taken from a written statement by [[Frank Smythe]]'s sherpas in 1937.<ref>{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Tilman H.W,|year=1938|title=Mount Everest 1938||id = ISBN 81-7769-175-9|publisher = Pilgrim Publishing| appendix=Appendix B| pages=p. 131}}</ref> * '''Kang Admi''' - "Snow Man"<ref name=jacksonMM /> [[Himalaya]]n wildlife attributed to the Yeti sightings include the [[Chu-Teh]], a [[Langur]] monkey [http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/E2K1954/slides/7.%20Yeti%20from%20Book-bw.html] living at lower altitudes, the Tibetan [[Blue Bear]], the [[Himalayan Brown Bear]] and the [[Dzu-Teh]] (commonly known as the [[Himalayan Red Bear]]).[http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/E2K1954/slides/7.%20Yeti%20from%20Book-bw.html] The term ''Yeti'' is often used to describe various reported creatures: * A large apelike biped (that some suggest could be a ''[[Gigantopithecus]]'') * Human-sized [[bipedal]] apes (the [[Almas (cryptozoology)|Almas]] and the [[Chinese wildman]]) * Dwarflike creatures (such as the [[Orang Pendek]]). The term is often used to refer to creatures fitting any of the aforementioned descriptions. For example, the [[fear liath]] has been dubbed as the "Scottish Yeti". ===The "Abominable Snowman" === The appellation "Abominable Snowman" was not coined until 1921, the same year Lieutenant-Colonel [[Charles Howard-Bury]] led the Royal Geographical Society's "Everest Reconnaissance Expedition"<ref name=buryP121124 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author= Charles Howard-Bury|date=February 1921|title=Some Observations on the Approaches to Mount Everest | journal=The Geographical Journal|volume= vol. 57|number=no. 2|pages=121–124|doi=10.2307/1781561 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |author= Francis Yourghusband; H. Norman Collie; A. Gatine |date=February 1922|title=Mount Everest" The reconnaissance: Discussion | journal=The Geographical Journal | volume=vol. 59|number=no. 2|pages=109–112|doi=10.2307/1781388 }}</ref> which he chronicled in ''Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921''<ref name=howardBury141 >{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Charles Howard-Bury |year=1921|title=Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921|publisher=Edward Arnold|chapter=19|pages=p. 141|id=ISBN=1-135-39935-2}}</ref> In the book, Howard-Bury includes an account of crossing the "Lhakpa-la" at 21,000 feet (6400 m) where he found footprints that he believed "were probably caused by a large 'loping' grey wolf, which in the soft snow formed double tracks rather like a those of a barefooted man". He adds that his Sherpa guides "at once volunteered that the tracks must be that of "The Wild Man of the Snows", to which they gave the name "metoh-kangmi".<ref name=howardBury141 /> "Metoh" translates as "man-bear" and "Kang-mi" translates as "snowman".<ref name=pranBobay /><ref name=swanp882884 /><ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter2 | pages=p 21|journal=Hodder and Staoughton}}</ref><ref name=jacksonMM /> A bit of confusion exists between Howard-Bury's recitation of the term "metoh-kangmi"<ref name=buryP121124 /> <ref name=howardBury141 /> and the term used in [[H.W. Tilman]]'s book ''Mount Everest, 1938''<ref name=tilmanP127137>{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Tilman H.W,|year=1938|title=Mount Everest 1938||id = ISBN 81-7769-175-9|publisher = Pilgrim Publishing| appendix=Appendix B|pages=pp. 127-137}}</ref> where Tilman had used the words "metch" (which may not exist in the Tibetan language)<ref name=izzardP24 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter2 | pages=p 24|journal=Hodder and Staoughton}}</ref> and "kangmi" when relating the coining of the term "Abominable Snowman".<ref name=tilmanP127137 /><ref name=swanp882884 /><ref name=straus-Vol123 >{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=William L. Straus Jnr., |journal=Science, New Series|volume=Vol. 123|title=Abominable Snowman| number=No. 3206|date=June 8, 1956|pages= pp. 1024–1025}}</ref><ref name=jacksonMM /> Further evidence of "metch" being a misnomer is provided by Tibetan language authority Professor David Snellgrove from the School of Oriental Studies in London (ca. 1956), who dismissed the word "metch" as impossible, because the consonants "t-c-h" cannot be conjoined in the Tibetan language."<ref name=izzardP24 /> Documentation suggests that the term "metch-kangmi" is derived from one source (from the year 1921).<ref>{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Tilman H.W,|year=1938|title=Mount Everest 1938||id = ISBN 81-7769-175-9|publisher = Pilgrim Publishing| appendix=Appendix B|pages=p 127-137}}</ref> It has been suggested that "metch" is simply a misspelling of "metoh". Like the legend itself, the origin of the term "Abominable Snowman" is rather colourful. It began when Mr Henry Newman, a longtime contributor to ''[[The Statesman]]'' in [[Calcutta]] (using the pen name "Kim")<ref name=IzzardP2122 />, interviewed the porters of the "Everest Reconnaissance expedition" upon their return to Darjeeling,<ref>{{cite journal |author= Bacil F. Kirtley| title=Unknown Hominids and New World legends | pages=p. 77–90|journal=Western Folklore | volume=23 | number=No. 1304|date=Apr., 1964| doi=10.2307/1498256}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= John Masters| title=The Abominable Snowman | pages=p. 31|publisher= Harpers | volume=CCXVIII | number=No. 1304|date=January, 1959}}</ref><ref name=tilmanP127137 /><ref>{{cite book |author= Bernard Heuvelmans | title=On the Track of Unknown Animals| pages=p. 129 |publisher= Rupert Hart-Davis | year=1958}}</ref>. Newman mistranslated the word "metoh" as "filthy" or "dirty", substituting the term "abominable", perhaps out of artistic license. <ref>{{cite journal |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| chapter=chapter2|pages=p 23|journal=Hodder and Stoughton}}</ref> As author [[H.W. Tilman]]'s recounts, "[Newman] wrote long after in a letter to ''The Times'': The whole story seemed such a joyous creation I sent it to one or two newspapers'".<ref name=tilmanP127137 /> == Events and studies == === 19th century === In 1832, the ''[[Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal]]'' published trekker [[B. H. Hodgson]]'s account of the Yeti in northern [[Nepal]]. His native guides spotted a tall, bipedal creature covered with long dark hair, which seemed to flee in fear. Hodgson did not see the creature, but concluded it was an [[orangutan]]. An early record of reported [[footprint]]s appeared in 1889 in [[L.A. Waddell]]'s ''[[Among the Himalayas]]''. Waddell reported his guide's description of a large apelike creature that left the prints, which Waddell concluded were actually made by a [[bear]]. Waddell heard stories of bipedal, apelike creatures, but wrote that of the many witnesses he questioned, none "could ever give ... an authentic case. On the most superficial investigation it always resolved into something that somebody had heard of." [http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/yeti.php] === Early 20th century === The frequency of reports increased during the early 20th century, when Westerners began making determined attempts to scale the many [[mountain]]s in the area and occasionally reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks. In 1925, [[N.A. Tombazi]], a [[photographer]] and member of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], writes that he saw a creature at about 15,000 ft (4572 m) near Zemu [[Glacier]]. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 or {{convert|300|yd}}, 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]] [[Shrub|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 (178 mm) long by four inches wide... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped." ====The Pangboche Scalp==== The [[Daily Mail]] Expedition of 1954, on [[March 19]] printed an article which described expedition teams obtaining hair specimens from a scalp found in Pangboche monastery. The hair was analysed by Professor [[Frederic Wood Jones]], F.R.S, D.Sc., (who died on [[September 29]] 1954<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jessie Dobson| title= Obituary: 79, Frederic Wood-Jones, F.R.S.: 1879-1954 |journal=Man | volume=vol.56 |date=June, 1956 |pages=pp. 82–83}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author= Wilfred E. le Gros Clark| title= Frederic Wood-Jones, 1879-1954 |journal=Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume=vol. 1 |date=Nov., 1955 | pages=pp. 118–134| doi= 10.1098/rsbm.1955.0009}}</ref>) and 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 colour in dim light, and fox red in sunlight. None of the hairs had been dyed. During the study, the hairs were bleached, cut into sections and analysed 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.<ref>{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Ralph Izzard|year=1955|title= The Abominable Snowman Adventure| publisher =Hodder and Staoughton}}</ref> === Late 20th century === Western interest in the Yeti peaked dramatically in the 1950s. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, [[Eric Shipton]] took [[photograph]]s 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]]. In 1953, Sir [[Edmund Hillary]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]] reported seeing large footprints while scaling [[Mount Everest]]. But Hillary would later discount Yeti reports as unreliable. In his first autobiography Tenzing said that he believed the Yeti was a large ape, and although he had never seen it himself his father had seen one twice, but in his second autobiography he said he had become much more skeptical about its existence.<ref>{{cite book |title=Man of Everest - The Autobiography of Tenzing|author=Tenzing Norgay (told to and written by James Ramsey Ullman) |year=1955 |publisher=George Harrap & Co, Ltd}}</ref> During the [[Daily Mail]] '''Snowman Expedition''' of 1954,<ref>http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/snowman1954/1954-snowman-team.html</ref> the largest search of its kind, the mountaineering leader [[John Angelo Jackson]], made the first trek from [[Mount Everest|Everest]] to [[Kangchenjunga]] during which he photographed symbolic paintings of the Yeti at [[Thyangboche]] Gompa.<ref>{{cite book |title=Adventure Travels in the Himalaya (pp135-152)|author=John Angelo Jackson (pp136)|year= 2005 ||chapter=Chapter 17|id=ISBN 81-7387-175-2}}</ref> 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. Beginning in 1957, wealthy [[United States|American]] [[Petroleum|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. [[Bernard Heuvelmans]] wrote, "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal." <ref>[[Loren Coleman]], ''Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti'', Faber & Faber, 1989, ISBN 0-571-12900-5; Loren Coleman, ''Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology'', Fresno, California: Linden Press, 2002, ISBN 0-941936-74-0</ref> In 1959, [[actor]] [[James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart]], while visiting [[India]], reportedly smuggled remains of a supposed Yeti, the so-called [[Pangboche Hand]], by concealing it in his luggage when he flew from India to [[London]].<ref>[http://www.anomalist.com/milestones/stewart.html Milestones -- Jimmy Stewart]</ref> 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 [[Nemorhaedus|serow]], a goat-like Himalayan antelope. But some disagreed with this analysis. [[Myra 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."{{Fact|date=February 2007}} (See: [[Blue Bear]]) 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. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} Nothing was seen again. In 1984, famed mountaineer David P. Sheppard of Hoboken, NJ, was near the southern Col of Everest and claims to have been followed by a large, furry man over the course of several days. His sherpas, however, say they saw no such thing. He claims to have taken a photograph, but a later study of it proved inconclusive. === 21st century === In early December 2007, American [[television presenter]] Josh Gates and his team reported finding a series of footprints in the [[Mount Everest|Everest]] region of [[Nepal]] resembling descriptions of Yeti.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7122705.stm |title='Yeti prints' found near Everest |accessdate=2007-12-01 |author=Charles Haviland |date=2007-12-01 |publisher=[[BBC News]] }}</ref> Each of the footprints were measured 33 cm in length - longer than a ruler - with five toes that measured a total of 25 cm across. Casts were made of the prints for further research. The footprints were examined by an expert who believed them to be too physiologically accurate to be fake or man made. The expert also stated that they were very similar to a pair of bigfoot footprints that were found in another area. On July 7, 2008, the [[BBC]] news programme [[The World Today]] broadcast an interview with wildlife artist [[Pollyanna Pickering]], who said she had been shown a yeti scalp and had drawn a picture of a yeti based on descriptions by local people. See transcript in footnote: <ref>[[The World Today]], 0625 [[GMT]]. <blockquote>BBC: Now in various parts of the Himalayas it's known as Metoh Kangmi, Bonmanche, or Kanchanjunga's demon. To the outside world it's more usually referred to as the Abominable Snowman, or Yeti. Most experts reckon it doesn't exist. And yet, the conjecture and fascination endure. Legends, travelers' tales, footprints in the snow, and occasionally, something more tangible perhaps. British wildlife artist [[Pollyanna Pickering]] has just returned from an expedition to [[Bhutan]]. She was searching for the rare and endangered [[snow leopard]], but she found instead what might be evidence of something, a creature, far more elusive. </blockquote><blockquote> Pickering: We trecked all the way into the far east of Bhutan, which you know is quite difficult to get to, trekked high up into the Himalayas to a very remote little temple and got chattin' to the um, lone caretaker monk there. And he showed us around the main temple, then he invited us back to his cell for a cup of yak-butter tea, which is a very acquired taste I must say, and through our interpreter, when he discovered we were actually English, he spoke his only word of English, which was "Beckham". Can you believe? And this monk had been high in the Himalayas for 27 years, and yet he'd heard of [[David Beckham]]! </blockquote><blockquote> So how, so how did you get from Beckham to yeti? It's not the association that most people would have in their minds. </blockquote><blockquote> No, not the most obvious! He realized we were English, we were kindred spirits, obviously we, clearly, coming from England, must know David Beckham personally. So now, we were due this very special favor. He took us into a smaller temple, that he just very rarely takes anyone into. And there, mounted on this sort of a pole, was this hundred-year-old relic, which was apparently a yeti scalp! And I have to say it was a very, very strange thing. It was a little bit spooky actually, ah, slightly macabre. It had a tuft of hair in the middle of the top, and then the hair was actually quite long, it went into [[dreadlock]]s, it sort of became quite matted. It was very dark, and sadly you're not allowed to photograph the interior of any temple in, in Bhutan. So, no photographs. But, I, I did make a sketch of it, so in my journal I sketched this yeti scalp! Then we actually got chatting to some of the nomadic people in the high Himalayas, and they said yes, occasionally we see a snow leopard, occasionally we see a yeti! Ah, so I deci... I asked them to describe it, and I did this sort of [[Identikit]] drawing, this [[photofit]], of a yeti from their description. And they were saying, no, a little longer here, change that a little bit, you know, and then, "yes, yes, that's it." </blockquote><blockquote> So how did they describe the yeti? </blockquote><blockquote> Very tall, about 8 feet tall. They walk in an upright position. Hairy, quite dark. The color varies apparently, sometimes it can be a bit reddish, sometimes a little lighter, but usually quite a dark colored hair on them... </blockquote><blockquote> And are they, are they frightened? I mean are these creatures benign, or are they something to be avoided? </blockquote><blockquote> Well, there are tales of them kidnapping women and children, and so, you know, they are regarded with a certain suspicion, and, yes, an element of fear I suppose. But apparently a group of British scientists have analyzed hair found in this region, and it doesn't match the [[DNA]] of any known creature, and, you know, it's only just over a hundred years ago that we thought [[giant panda]]s were mythological, and certainly their habitat is much easier to get into than the high Himalayan mountains. </blockquote><blockquote> I'm glad you mentioned DNA there, because a lot of people listening will say, well it's simple isn't it, we just take this relic from the monastery, have it DNA-tested, and you'll know for sure whether it's, ah, just an ordinary creature, or a fake, or, or whatever. </blockquote><blockquote> Yes, that's right. </blockquote><blockquote> But presumably the monks are not keen on that happening. </blockquote><blockquote> Well, I wasn't allowed to touch it, personally! But you know, certainly, looking out over those vast Himalayan peaks, it's so easy to imagine things living there that we still don't know about. </blockquote><blockquote> It certainly is. That's Pollyanna Pickering.</blockquote></ref> == Analysis == In his book ''Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality'',<ref name=bigfoot /> primatologist [[John Napier (primatologist)|John Napier]] provides firsthand reports and analysis on the subject, and argues that amongst the evidence for the Yeti, "unlike the Sasquatch, there is little uniformity of pattern, and what uniformity there is incriminates the bear." In 2003, Japanese mountaineer [[Makoto Nebuka]] published the results of his twelve year [[linguistic study]] postulating that the word "Yeti" is actually a corruption of the word "meti", a regional dialect term for "bear". As in other traditional cultures, the ethnic Tibetans fear and worship the bear as a supernatural being.<ref>[http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Tib.htm Tibet: Mystic Trivia]</ref> Nebuka's claims were subject to almost immediate criticism, and was accused of linguistic carelessness. Dr Raj Kumar Pandey, who has researched both Yetis and mountain languages, said "it is not enough to blame tales of the mysterious beast of the Himalayas on words that rhyme but mean different things."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3143020.stm BBC News -- Yeti's 'non-existence' hard to bear]</ref> After reviewing eyewitness accounts and physical evidence, many [[cryptozoology|cryptozoologists]] {{Who|date=July 2007}} have concluded that Yeti reports are misidentification of mundane creatures. Even well-financed expeditions have turned up no positive evidence of its existence. One well publicized expedition to Bhutan reported that a hair sample had been obtained that, after DNA analysis by Prof. [[Bryan Sykes]], could not be matched to any known animal.<ref>[http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=18&id=149706&usrsess=1 The Statesmen -- Mystery Primate]</ref> Analysis completed after the media release, however, clearly showed that the samples were from the [[Brown Bear]] (''[[Ursus arctos]]'') and the [[Asiatic Black Bear]] (''[[Ursus thibetanus]]'').<ref>{{cite book |quotes=no |author=Chandler, H.C.|year=2003|title= Using Ancient DNA to Link Culture and Biology in Human Populations | publisher=Unpublished D.Phil. thesis. University of Oxford, Oxford}}</ref> In 1997, South Tyrolean mountaineer [[Reinhold Messner]] claimed to have a face-to-face encounter with a Yeti. He has since written a book, ''My Quest for the Yeti'', and claims to have actually killed one. According to Messner, the Yeti is actually the endangered [[Himalayan Brown Bear]], ''[[Ursus arctos]] [[Ursus arctos isabellinus|isabellinus]]'', that can walk upright or on all fours.<ref>[http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/yetiBear.htm The Grizzly Truth About the Yeti -- Stalking the Abominable Snow-Bear]</ref> Enthusiasts speculate that these reported creatures could be present-day specimens of the [[extinction|extinct]] giant [[ape]] ''[[Gigantopithecus]]'', as the only evidence recovered from ''Gigantopithecus'' (other than teeth) are jawbone remains indicating a skull atop a vertical spinal column (as in [[hominine]]s and other [[bipedal]] apes such as ''[[Oreopithecus]]''). However, while the Yeti is generally described as bipedal, most scientists believe ''Gigantopithecus'' to be [[quadruped]]al, and so massive that, unless it evolved specifically as a bipedal ape (like ''Oreopithecus'' and the hominids), walking upright would have been even more difficult for the now extinct primate than it is for its extant quadrupedal relative, the [[orangutan]]. There is a famous Yeti hoax, known as the snow walker film, created by Fox television network, in an attempt to deceive the public. The footage was created for Paramount's UPN show, Paranormal Borderland, ostensibly by the show's producers. The show ran from March 12 to August 6, 1996. Its origins had nothing to do with Fox Television, although Fox purchased and used the footage in their later program on The World's Greatest Hoaxes. <ref>[http://www.bigfootencounters.com/films/snowwalker.htm Snow Walker Film<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> "Mysteries of the Unexplained," published in 1982 by the Reader's Digest, contains the following unattributed quote on page 157: "The Yeti has been sensationalized out of all proportion to reality. To the Sherpas there is nothing mysterious about it; the creature has been part of their lives and recollections for at least 200 years. Himalayan villagers and hunters include it as just another animal when discussing local fauna. If it seems elusive, it is because its habitat lies far from human paths....Its home is in the highest Himalayan forests, deep in almost impenetrable thickets. When it ventures into the snow area...it walks upright...The Sherpas suggest its reason for crossing the snowfields is to seek a saline moss that grows on the rocks of moraines. Ivan Sanderson says it is not moss they seek but lichens, which are rich in food value." In 1980 a Chinese team found a dozen nests, some in trees and some on the ground, in an area called Fengshuyang in Zhejiang Province. <ref>Mysteries of the Unexplained, Reader's Digest Press, 1982, p. 164)</ref> In 2004, Henry Gee, editor of the prestigious magazine ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', argued that creatures like Yetis deserved further study, writing, "The discovery that ''[[Homo floresiensis]]'' survived until so very recently, in geological terms, makes it more likely that stories of other mythical, human-like creatures such as Yetis are founded on grains of truth ... Now, cryptozoology, the study of such fabulous creatures, can come in from the cold."<ref>Nature Publishing Group (2004). ''[http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041025/full/041025-2.html Flores, God and Cryptozoology]'' (available only with subscription).</ref> ==In popular culture== [[Image:Herge Yeti.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An artist's impression of the Yeti (from [[Hergé]]'s [[Tintin in Tibet]]). Notice the pointed head, based on the Yeti Scalp.]] The Yeti has become a cultural icon, appearing in movies, books and video games. The creature is usually depicted as the scary "Abominable Snowman", but is occasionally shown as being misunderstood or used as comic relief. Perhaps the most famous example in American popular culture is from the Christmas classic [[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer]]. The Yeti is called the Abominable Snow Monster, or "The Bumble" by other characters in the story. In the popular YouTube videos created by brothers Hank and [[John Green]] (author), John refers to his wife as 'The Yeti' as she is very rarely seen in his videos. In the popular movie series [[Star Wars]], the creature called the [[Wampa]] that captures [[Luke Skywalker]] is based on the Yeti in appearance and the habitat it lives in. [[Hergé]] used the Yeti as a main character in [[Tintin in Tibet]], as the Yeti actually saves Tintin's friend Chang (see illustration). {{Trivia|date=December 2007}} In the video game [[Destroy All Humans 2]], Russian Yeti sightings are revealed to be caused by an Alien species called the Blisk. However, while basically humanoid in shape the Blisk do not resemble the traditional Yeti appearance (the Blisk are reptillian with crab-like characteristics). In the video games [[Pokémon Diamond]] and [[Pokémon Pearl]], the Pokemon [[Abomasnow]] is based on the Yeti. In the [[Pokédex]], Abomasnow is described as the "Abominable Snowman" of the Pokémon universe. In the video game [[Final Fantasy 6]], a yeti named [[Umaro]] is a optional boss that will join the party only if you defeat him and have [[Mog]] in party. In the video game [[Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2]], the Yeti is the boss animal on the final stage. In the video game [[Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly]], you have to free a Yeti in a monastery. In the video game [[Tomb Raider II]], [[Lara Croft]] encounters several Yeti's in Tibet. The Yeti is featured in [[Expedition Everest]] at Disney World's [[Animal Kingdom]]. The Yeti (in the form of a computer generated shadow and a large robotic creature) attacks a mountain train. In 2007, Animal Kingdom also opened ''The Yak and Yeti'' restaurant. The restaurant has a new Asian inspired full serve restaurant in the Anandapur section. There is also be a counter service option available as well as a retail section featuring sushi ware, teapots and chopsticks. In the action cartoon [[Johnny Quest]], one of his adventures takes him to a Tibetian monastery where men dressed as Yetis are eventually killed by a real one. In the song "Friday Afternoon" by Ska band Dabe and His Good Buds, a Yeti named Doug is found in a cave and befriended by the band. In the animated TV series [[Tiny Toons Adventures]], Buster Bunny travels up the Himmalayas and gets ambushed by the abominable snowman, who is literally a giant snowman with nunchucks. In the graphic novel [[Doctor Doom|Books of Doom]], young Victor Von Doom is attacked by a Yeti. Unlike most incarnations, this version of the Yeti has a less human wolf-like head. In the popular game [[Ski Free]] the abominable snowman, or yeti, chases after you at a certain point and eats you (unless you escape). In the [[Disney]]/[[Pixar]] movie, [[Monsters, Inc.]], it is revealed that the Abominable Snowman is a monster banished from the Monster world for reasons not mentioned. In this incarnation, the yeti is quite friendly and dislikes the name "Abominable Snowman" and makes snow cones. Yeti are a common monster in the Mountains of the [[MMORPG]] [[MapleStory]], and come in a number of varieties. Yetis appear in [[Diablo II]], Act 1 as a white textured brute in the monastery near the Horadric malus. In the ''Scooby-Doo: Where are You'' episode "That's Snow Ghost", the mystery gang encounter a yeti who turns out to be the lodge clerk. In the animated film, ''[[Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!]],'' the mystery gang travel to the snowy Himalayas and bump into the Abomnible Snowman. In one episode of ''[[The Backyardigans]],'' Pablo the Penguin (playing as the yeti) goes to the Frozen North to search for the igloo and sings a song called ''Yeti Stomp''. Tyrone and Uniqua search for him accompanied by self-proclaimed Frozen North expert Tasha who insists that there's no such thing as a yeti. In the popular book franchise [[Goosebumps]], [[R.L. Stine]]'s book "The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena" features a family that finds a frozen Yeti in [[Alaska]] and brings it back to the suburbs of southern [[California]]. [[Terry Pratchett]]'s book "Thief of Time" posits an interesting way for the Yeti (as a species) to survive multiple extinctions. This ability is a fairly important plot point of the book. In the Hindi [[Bollywood]] movie, "Ajooba Kudrat Kaa" [1990], there is a story of a girl who befriends a giant Yeti. The movie was directed and produced by Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay, infamous for their horror movies in India. In his supernatural horror stories ''[[The Whisperer in Darkness]]'' and ''[[At the Mountains of Madness]]'', author [[H.P. Lovecraft]] uses the phrase "Abominable Snow-Men" synonymously with his fictitious [[Mi-Go]], although he describes Mi-Go very differently from the usual conception of yeti. In the [[Mighty Boosh]] episode '[[Call of the Yeti]]', Howard, Vince, Naboo and Bollo are turned into hippies by five yetis before being rescued by Kodiak Jack, whom the yetis then breed with. In [[Ragnarök Online]], Sasquatch is a monster who lives in a snowy city. He looks like a white, large, biped bear. In the popular [[MMORPG]] [[RuneScape]] the king of the Miscellania area has been cursed and turned into a Yeti. requiring the player's avatar to become the new king (Or queen)and marry the king's daughter (or son) respectively. In the Webcomic [[Irregular Webcomic]] the Yeti is a friend of [[Steve Irwin]]. In [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]], two yetis, Yeto and Yeta, live in the fifth dungeon, Snowpeak Ruins. In the bedroom, Yeta turns to Twilit Ice mass, Blizetta. She is the boss of the Snowpeak Ruins. The Abominable Snowman is [[Monster in My Pocket]] #74. In [[The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]], the yeti can be seen on the trailer. ==References== {{reflist|2}} * [[John Napier (primatologist)]] (MRCS, IRCS, DSC) "Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality" 1972 ISBN 0-525-06658-6. * Sir [[Francis Younghusband]] ''The Epic of Mount Everest'' by 1926, Edward Arnold & Co. The expedition that inadvertently coined the term "Abominable Sbowman" * [[Charles Howard-Bury]], "Mount Everest The Reconnaissance", 1921, Edward Arnold, ISBN 1-135-39935-2. * [[H.W. Tilman]], "Mount Everest 1938", Appendix B, pp. 127-137, Pilgrim Publishing. ISBN 81-7769-175-9. * [[John A. Jackson]], ''More than Mountains'', Chapter 10 (pp 92) & 11, "Prelude to the Snowman Expedition & The Snowman Expedition", George Harrap & Co, 1954 * Ralph Izzard, ''The Abominable Snowman Adventure'', this is the detailed account by the [[Daily Mail]] correspondent on the 1954 expedition to find the "Snowman", Hodder and Staoughton, 1955. * Charles Stonor, ''The Sherpa and the Snowman'', recounts the 1955 [[Dail Mail]] "Abominable Snowman Expedition" by the scientific officer of the expedition, this is a very detailed analysis of not just the "Snowman" but the flora and fauna of the Himalaya and its people. Hollis and Carter, 1955. * [[John A. Jackson]], [http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/adventure_travels_in_himalaya.htm ''Adventure Travels in the Himalaya''] Chapter 17, "Everest and the Elusive Snowman", 1954 updated material, Indus Publishing Company, 2005, ISBN 81-7387-175-2. * Jerome Clark, ''Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena'', Visible Ink Press, 1993. * [[Bernard Heuvelmans]], ''On the Track of Unknown Animals'', Hill and Wang, 1958 * Reinhold Messner, ''My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, ISBN 0-312-20394-2 * Gardner Soule, ''Trail of the Abominable Snowman'', New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966, ISBN 0-399-6064 == See also == * [[Bigfoot]] * [[Blue Bear]] * [[Expedition Everest]] * [[Yeren]] * [[Yowie (cryptid)|Yowie]] * [[Lake Worth monster]] * The [[Lourdes effect]] == External links == * [http://www.cryptozoology.com/cryptids/yeti.php Yeh-teh "that thing out there"] * [http://www.unmuseum.org/yeti.htm Yeti: Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas] * [http://www.yetiforeningen.nu/ Swedish Yeti Association] (This site is in Swedish) * [http://www.occultopedia.com/y/yeti.htm Yeti, The Abominable Snowman] - from [[Occultopedia]] * [http://www.dprix.com/biblio/yeti/yeti.html A theory of Yeti] (This site is in French) * [http://www.newanimal.org/yeti.htm The Cryptid Zoo: Yetis] * [http://www.pbs.org/edens/bhutan/a_migo.htm Migo] ---- {{Cryptozoology}} [[Category:Mysteries]] [[Category:Hominid cryptids]] [[Category:Legendary mammals]] [[bg:Йети]] [[ca:Yeti]] [[cs:Yetti]] [[cy:Yeti]] [[da:Yeti]] [[de:Yeti]] [[es:Yeti]] [[eo:Jetio]] [[eu:Yeti]] [[fa:یتی]] [[fr:Yéti]] [[ko:예티]] [[hr:Jeti]] [[id:Yeti]] [[it:Yeti]] [[hu:Jeti]] [[nl:Verschrikkelijke sneeuwman]] [[ja:イエティ]] [[no:Yeti]] [[pl:Yeti]] [[pt:Yeti]] [[ru:Снежный человек]] [[sq:Jeti]] [[simple:Yeti]] [[sl:Jeti]] [[sr:Јети]] [[fi:Lumimies]] [[sv:Yeti]] [[th:เยติ]] [[tr:Yeti]] [[zh:雪人 (傳說生物)]]