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{{Short description|Alleged ape-like creature from Asia}}
{{Redirect|Abominable Snowman|other uses|Abominable Snowman (disambiguation)|other uses of Yeti|Yeti (disambiguation)}}
{{Pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
| name      = Yeti
| image     = Yeti_colorisé.jpg
| caption  = Artistic depiction of a Yeti
| Folklore = [[Cryptid]]
| Grouping = 
| AKA              = {{Plain list|
* Abominable Snowman<ref name="randi-1995">{{Cite book |last=Randi |first=James |title=[[An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural|An encyclopedia of claims, frauds, and hoaxes of the occult and supernatural: decidedly sceptical definitions of alternative realities]] |date=1995 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=978-0-312-15119-5 |location=New York, NY |author-link=James Randi}}</ref>
* Meh-teh<ref name="randi-1995" />
* Migoi, et al.
}}

| Country          = {{Plain list|
* [[Bhutan]]
* [[China]]
* [[India]]
* [[Nepal]]
* [[Russia]] ([[Siberia]])
}}
| Region           = [[Tibet]], [[Himalayas]]
| Similar_entities = {{Plain list|
* [[Almas (folklore)|Almas]]
* [[Barmanou]]
* [[Basajaun]]
* [[Bigfoot]]
* [[Hibagon]]
* [[Mande Barung]]
* [[Orang Pendek]]
* [[Skunk ape]]
* [[Yeren]]
* [[Yowie]]
}}
| First_Attested   = 
}}
{{Paranormal}}

The '''Yeti''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|j|ɛ|t|i}})<ref name="dict">[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/yeti "Yeti"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309003058/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Yeti |date=9 March 2015 }}. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> is an [[ape]]-like creature purported to inhabit the [[Himalayan mountain range]] in Asia. In Western popular culture, the creature is commonly referred to as the '''Abominable Snowman'''. Many dubious articles have been offered in an attempt to prove the existence of the Yeti, including anecdotal visual sightings, disputed video recordings, photographs, and plaster casts of large footprints. Some of these are speculated or known to be [[hoax]]es.

Folklorists trace the origin of the Yeti to a combination of factors, including [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] folklore and misidentified fauna such as [[Himalayan brown bear|bear]] or [[yak]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pariyar |first1=Kamal |title=Visit Nepal's yeti: How mythical creature divided Himalayan nation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51192640 |access-date=16 March 2021 |agency=[[BBC News]] |date=28 January 2020 |archive-date=2 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602132440/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51192640 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Yeti is commonly compared to [[Bigfoot]] of North America, as the two subjects often have similar physical descriptions.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Guide to Deciphering the Differences Between a Yeti, Sasquatch, Bigfoot and More |url=https://www.newsweek.com/bigfoot-sasquatch-yeti-legend-myth-403932 |website=newsweek.com |publisher=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=19 December 2015 |archive-date=19 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419190526/https://www.newsweek.com/bigfoot-sasquatch-yeti-legend-myth-403932 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Description==
The Yeti is often described as being a large, [[Bipedalism|bipedal]] ape-like creature that is covered with brown, grey, or white hair, and it is sometimes depicted as having large, [[Fang|sharp teeth]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Lucy |title=Earth - Is the Himalayan Yeti a real animal? |url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150630-is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-yeti |website=bbc.com |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=17 March 2021 |date=30 June 2015 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425000705/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150630-is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-yeti |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Etymology and alternative names==
{{Contains special characters|Tibetan|section}}

The word ''Yeti'' is derived from {{bo|t=གཡའ་དྲེད་|w=g.ya' dred|z=Yachê}}, a compound of the words {{bo|t=གཡའ་|w=g.ya'|z=ya}} "rocky", "rocky place" and ({{bo|t=དྲེད་|w=dred|z=chê}}) "bear".<ref name=pranBobay >{{cite journal |author=Pranavananda, Swami |title=The Abominable Snowman | journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume= 54|year=1957}}</ref><ref name=stonorState >Stonor, Charles (30 January 1954). ''The Statesman in Calcutta''</ref><ref name=swanp882884 >{{cite journal |author=Swan, Lawrence W.|title=Abominable Snowman|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_science_1958-04-18_127_3303/page/882|date=18 April 1958|journal=Science |pages=882–84|volume=127| issue = 3303|pmid=17733822 |doi=10.1126/science.127.3303.882-b|bibcode=1958Sci...127..882S|s2cid=5372649 }}</ref><ref name=IzzardP2122 >Izzard, Ch. 2, pp. 21–22.</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=izzardp199>Izzard, Ch. 2, p. 199.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Sherpa and the Snowman|author=Stonor, Charles |year=1955 |publisher=Hollis and Carter}}</ref>

Tibetan lore describes three main varieties of Yetis—the '''Nyalmo''', which has black fur and is the largest and fiercest, standing around fifteen feet tall; the '''Chuti''', which stands around eight feet tall and lives {{convert|8,000|and|10,000|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level; and the '''Rang Shim Bombo''', which has reddish-brown fur and is only between {{convert|3|and|5|ft|abbr=on}} tall.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bhairav|first1=J. Furcifer|title=Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India|last2=Khanna|first2=Rakesh|publisher=Blaft Publications Pvt. Ltd.|year=2020|isbn=978-93-80636-47-4|location=India|pages=428–429}}</ref>

Other terms used by Himalayan peoples do not translate exactly the same, but refer to legendary and indigenous wildlife:

* '''Michê''' ({{bo|t=མི་དྲེད་|w= mi dred|z=Michê}}) translates as "man-[[bear]]".<ref name=swanp882884 /><ref>Izzard, Ch. 2, p. 22.</ref>
* '''Dzu-teh''' – 'dzu' translates as "[[cattle]]" and the full meaning translates as "cattle bear", referring to the [[Himalayan brown bear]].<ref name=stonorState /><ref name=izzardp199 /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Pranavananda, Swami |date= July–September 1955|volume=30| pages = 99–104|journal=Indian Geographical Journal|title=Abominable Snowman}}</ref><ref name=jacksonMM >{{cite book |author=Jackson, John A. |title=More than Mountains |year=1955|publisher=George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.}}</ref>
* '''Migoi''' or '''Mi-go''' ({{bo|t=མི་རྒོད་|w=mi rgod|z=Migö/Mirgö}}) translates as "wild man".<ref name=izzardp199 /><ref name=jacksonMM />
* '''Bun Manchi''' – Nepali for "jungle man" that is used outside Sherpa communities where '''yeti''' is the common name.<ref>Taylor</ref>
* '''Mirka''' – Another name for "wild-man". Local legend holds that "anyone who sees one dies or is killed". The latter is taken from a written statement by [[Frank Smythe]]'s [[Sherpa people|sherpas]] in 1937.<ref>Tilman, p. 131.</ref>
* '''Kang Admi''' – "Snow Man".<ref name=jacksonMM />
* '''Jungli Admi''' – "Wild Man".<ref>{{cite book |title=Dust and Snow. Half a lifetime in India|author=Cooke, C. Reginald |year=1988 |publisher=C.R. Cooke|pages=326–328}}</ref>
* '''Xueren''' (Chinese: 雪人) - "Snow Man"

===Other names and locations===
In [[Folklore of Russia|Russian folklore]], the ''Chuchuna'' is an entity said to dwell in [[Siberia]]. It has been described as six to seven feet tall and covered with dark hair.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} According to the native accounts from the nomadic [[Yakuts|Yakut]] and [[Tungusic peoples|Tungus]] tribes, it is a well built, [[Neanderthal]]-like man wearing pelts and bearing a white patch of fur on its forearms. It is said to occasionally consume human flesh, unlike their close cousins, the [[Almas (folklore)|''Almastis'']]. Some witnesses reported seeing a tail on the creature's corpse. It is described as being roughly six to seven feet tall.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} There are additional tales of large, reclusive, bipedal creatures worldwide, notably including both "[[Bigfoot]]" and the "Abominable Snowman."

====The Abominable Snowman====
The name ''Abominable Snowman'' was coined in 1921, the year Lieutenant-Colonel [[Charles Howard-Bury]] led the [[1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition]],<ref name=buryP121124 >{{cite journal|author=Howard-Bury, Charles|date=February 1921|title=Some Observations on the Approaches to Mount Everest|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=57|pages=121–24|doi=10.2307/1781561|issue=2|jstor=1781561|bibcode=1921GeogJ..57..121B|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449364|access-date=4 July 2019|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309040312/https://zenodo.org/record/1449364|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Yourghusband, Francis |author2=Collie, H. Norman |author3=Gatine, A. |name-list-style=amp |date=February 1922 |title=Mount Everest" The reconnaissance: Discussion |journal=The Geographical World Journal |volume=59 |pages=109–12 |doi=10.2307/1781388 |issue=2 |jstor=1781388 |bibcode=1922GeogJ..59..109Y |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449352 |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308192610/https://zenodo.org/record/1449352 |url-status=live }}</ref> which he chronicled in ''Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921''.<ref name=howardBury141 >{{cite book |author=Howard-Bury, Charles |year=1921|title=Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921|publisher=Edward Arnold|chapter=19|page=141|isbn=978-1-135-39935-1}}</ref> In the book, Howard-Bury includes an account of crossing the [[Lhagba La|Lhagpa La]] at {{convert|21000|ft|abbr=on}} 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 those of a bare-footed 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 name=jacksonMM /><ref>Izzard, Ch. 2, p. 21.</ref>

Confusion exists between Howard-Bury's recitation of the term "metoh-kangmi"<ref name=buryP121124 /><ref name=howardBury141 /> and the term used in [[Bill Tilman]]'s book ''Mount Everest, 1938''<ref name=tilmanP127137>Tilman, pp. 127–37</ref> where Tilman had used the words "metch", which does not exist in the [[Lhasa Tibetan|Tibetan language]],<ref name=izzardP24 >Izzard, Ch. 2, p. 24.</ref> and "kangmi" when relating the coining of the term "Abominable Snowman".<ref name=swanp882884 /><ref name=jacksonMM /><ref name=tilmanP127137 /><ref name=straus-Vol123 >{{cite journal |last=Straus |first=William L. Jr. |journal=Science|volume= 123|title=Abominable Snowman|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_science_1956-06-08_123_3206/page/1024 |date=8 June 1956|pages= 1024–25| issue= 3206|doi=10.1126/science.123.3206.1024 |pmid=17800969|bibcode=1956Sci...123.1024S}}</ref> Further evidence of "metch" being a misnomer is provided by Tibetan language authority Professor [[David Snellgrove]] from the [[SOAS University of London|School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of 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 name="tilmanP127137"/> It has been suggested that "metch" is simply a misspelling of "metoh".

The use of "Abominable Snowman" began when Henry Newman, a longtime contributor to ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], writing under the pen name "Kim",<ref name=IzzardP2122 /> interviewed the porters of the "Everest Reconnaissance expedition" on their return to Darjeeling.<ref name=tilmanP127137 /><ref>{{cite journal |author= Kirtley, Bacil F. | title=Unknown Hominids and New World legends | pages=77–90 |journal=Western Folklore | volume=23|date=April 1964| doi=10.2307/1498256 | issue= 1304 |jstor= 1498256| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Masters |first=John |date=January 1959 |title=The Abominable Snowman |url=https://harpers.org/archive/1959/01/the-abominable-snowman/ |url-access=subscription |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]] |volume=CCXVIII |issue=1304 |page=31 |access-date=17 July 2022 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809125355/https://harpers.org/archive/1959/01/the-abominable-snowman/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Newman mistranslated the word "metoh" as "filthy", substituting the term "abominable", perhaps out of artistic licence.<ref>Izzard, Ch. 2, p. 23.</ref> As author Bill Tilman 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 />

==History and sightings==
{{Cryptidbox
| image = Yeti ill artlibre jnl.png
| image_caption = Yeti sketch
| parent = [[Homonidae]]
| taxon = Yeti
| first sighting = 1920
| subivision_ranks = variations
| subdivisions =
Mehteh, Teh-ima, Dzu-teh
| country = [[China]], [[Bhutan]], [[Nepal]], [[India]]
}}
===Pre-19th century===
According to H. Siiger, the Yeti was a part of the pre-[[Buddhism|Buddhist]] beliefs of several Himalayan people. He was told that the [[Lepcha people]] worshipped a "Glacier Being" as a God of the Hunt. He also reported that followers of the [[Bon|Bön]] religion once believed the blood of the "mi rgod" or "wild man" had use in certain spiritual ceremonies. The being was depicted as an ape-like creature who carries a large stone as a weapon and makes a whistling swoosh sound.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0C-IhEKrSEC&pg=PA423|chapter=The Abominable Snowman |author=Siiger, H. |title=Himalayan anthropology: the Indo-Tibetan interface |editor =Fisher, James F. |page=423|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-90-279-7700-7|year=1978}}</ref>

Yeti was adopted into [[Tibetan Buddhism]], where it is considered a nonhuman animal (''[[Animals in Buddhism|tiragyoni]]'') that is nonetheless human enough to sometimes be able to follow [[Dharma]]. Several stories feature Yetis becoming helpers and disciples to religious figures. In Tibet, images of Yetis are paraded and occasionally worshipped as guardians against evil spirits. However, because Yetis sometimes act as enforcers of Dharma, hearing or seeing one is often considered a bad omen, for which the witness must accumulate [[Merit (Buddhism)|merit]].<ref>Capper, Daniel S. (2012). ''The Friendly Yeti''. University of Southern Mississippi.</ref>

===19th century===
[[File:1937 yeti footprints.png|thumb|left|1937 Frank S. Smythe photograph of alleged Yeti footprints, printed in ''Popular Science'', 1952]]

In 1832, [[James Prinsep]]'s ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' published trekker [[Brian Houghton Hodgson|B. H. Hodgson]]'s account of his experiences in northern Nepal. His local guides spotted a tall bipedal creature covered with long dark hair, which seemed to flee in fear. Hodgson concluded it was an [[orangutan]].

An early record of reported [[footprint]]s appeared in 1899 in [[Laurence Waddell]]'s ''Among the Himalayas''. Waddell reported his guide's description of a large apelike creature that left the prints, which Waddell thought were made by a bear. Waddell heard stories of bipedal, apelike creatures but wrote that "none, however, of the many Tibetans I have interrogated on this subject could ever give me an authentic case. On the most superficial investigation, it always resolved into something that somebody heard tell of."<ref>{{cite book |author=Waddell, Laurence Austine | author-link=Laurence Waddell |title=Among the Himalayas |year=1899 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.501496 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.501496/page/n243 223] |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co.}}</ref>

===20th century===
The frequency of reports increased during the early 20th century when Westerners began making determined attempts to scale the many mountains in the area and occasionally reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks.

[[File:Yeti footprint, Singaleela ridge, 1944, photoed by CR Cooke.jpg|thumb|Purported Yeti footprint taken by C.R. Cooke in 1944]]

In 1925, [[N. A. Tombazi]], a photographer and member of the Royal Geographical Society, writes that he saw a creature at about {{convert|15000|ft|abbr=on}} near [[Zemu Glacier]]. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about {{convert|200|to|300|yd|abbr=on}}, 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 the creature's prints, described as "similar in shape to those of a man, but only {{convert|6|to|7|in|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|4|in|abbr=on}} wide...<ref>{{convert|6|to|7|in|abbr=on}}, {{convert|4|in|abbr=on}}</ref> The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abell |first1=George Ogden |last2=Singer |first2=Barry|year=1981|title=Science and The Paranormal: Probing the Existence of The Supernatural|publisher=Scribner|page=32|isbn=0-684-16655-0}}.</ref>

[[File:Yeti footprint 2, Singaleela ridge, Darjeeling, 1944.jpg|thumb|Purported Yeti footprint taken by C.R. Cooke in 1944]]

During the autumn of 1937, [[John Hunt, Baron Hunt|John Hunt]] and Pasang Sherpa (later Pasang Dawa Lama) encountered footprints on the approaches to and at the Zemu Gap above the [[Zemu Glacier]] that were thought to belong to a pair of Yetis.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dust and Snow. Half a lifetime in India|author=Cooke, C. Reginald |year=1988 |publisher=C.R. Cooke|pages=327–328}}</ref>

In June 1944, [[C.R. Cooke]], his wife Maragaret, and a group of porters encountered very large bipedal prints in soft mud at {{convert|14,000|ft|abbr=on}} just below the [[Singalila Ridge]], which the porters said were of the "Jungli Admi" (wild man). The creature had come up through bushes on the steep hillside from Nepal and crossed the track before continuing up to the ridge. Cooke wrote "We laid Maragaret's sunglasses beside each print to indicate its size and took photographs. These prints were strange and larger than any normal human foot, {{convert|14|inches|abbr=on}} heel to toe, with the great toe set back to one side, a first toe, also large, and three little toes closely bunched together."<ref>{{cite book |title=Dust and Snow. Half a lifetime in India|author=Cooke, C. Reginald |year=1988 |publisher=C.R. Cooke|page=327}}</ref>

Peter Byrne reported finding a yeti footprint in 1948, in northern [[Sikkim]], India near the [[Zemu Glacier]], while on holiday from a [[Royal Air Force]] assignment in India.<ref name="sikkim">{{Cite book |last=McLeod |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_6FmjJYd13wC&pg=PA54 |title=Anatomy of a beast: obsession and myth on the trail of Bigfoot |publisher=University of California Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-520-25571-5 |page=54}}</ref>
[[File:Eric Shipton yeti footprint.png|thumb|One of the three photographs by Eric Shipton in 1951 with an ice axe being used for scale.]]
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 {{convert|6000|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. Shipton took three photographs, one depicting the tracks, and other two of one particular print which was size compared by a pickaxe, and boot. The footprints had distinct two large toes, and three smaller digits close together. 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 are those of a mundane creature that have been distorted by the melting snow. [[Jeffrey Meldrum]] examined a reconstructed form of the print in 2008, noting that one of the large toes was the result of [[Macrodactyly]]. He also stated the alignment of the toes matched that of a [[Hominidae|great ape]], and the Yeti would likely spend more time in the [[Subtropics|subtropical]] region of the Himalayas. Meldrum stated it was hard to conclusively say the prints were genuine since Shipton only took two photos of a single track.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=C. |title=Who's Who in British Climbing |publisher=The Climbing Company |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-9556601-0-8}}</ref><ref name="randi-1995" />

In 1953, Sir [[Edmund Hillary]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]] reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. 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 sceptical about its existence.<ref>{{cite book |title=Man of Everest&nbsp;– The Autobiography of Tenzing|author=Tenzing Norgay (told to and written by James Ramsey Ullman) |year=1955 |publisher=George Harrap & Co, Ltd}}</ref>

[[File:Yetiscalp.JPG|thumb|Purported Yeti scalp at Khumjung monastery]]

During the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' Snowman Expedition of 1954,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/snowman1954/1954-snowman-team.html |title=Daily Mail Team Will Seek Snowman |publisher=Cabernet.demon.co.uk |access-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233806/http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/snowman1954/1954-snowman-team.html |archive-date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> the mountaineering leader [[John Angelo Jackson]] made the first trek from Everest to [[Kanchenjunga]] in the course of which he photographed symbolic paintings of the Yeti at [[Tengboche]] [[gompa]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Adventure Travels in the Himalaya |author=Jackson, John Angelo |pages=135–52, 136|year= 2005|chapter=Chapter 17|isbn=978-81-7387-175-7 |publisher=Indus Pub. Co. |location=New Delhi}}</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. These flattened footprint-like indentations were attributed to erosion and subsequent widening of the original footprint by wind and particles.

[[Image:pangcboche-19534-John-Jackson.jpg|thumb|Dr. [[Biswamoy Biswas]] examining the Pangboche Yeti scalp during the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' Snowman Expedition of 1954]]

On 19 March 1954, the ''Daily Mail'' printed an article which described expedition teams obtaining hair specimens from what was alleged to be a Yeti [[scalp]] found in the [[Pangboche]] monastery. The hairs were black to dark brown in colour in dim light, and fox red in sunlight. The hair was analysed by Professor [[Frederic Wood Jones]],<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dobson, Jessie | title= Obituary: 79, Frederic Wood-Jones, F.R.S.: 1879–1954 |journal=Man | volume=56 |date=June 1956 |pages=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= 1 |date=November 1955 | pages=118–134| doi= 10.1098/rsbm.1955.0009| doi-access= free }}</ref> an expert in human and comparative anatomy. During the study, the hairs were bleached, cut into sections and analysed microscopically. The research consisted of taking [[Micrograph|microphotographs]] of the hairs and comparing them with hairs from known animals such as bears and orangutans. Jones concluded that the hairs were not actually from a scalp. He contended that while some animals do have a ridge of hair extending from the pate to the back, no animals have a ridge (as in the Pangboche scalp) running from the base of the forehead across the pate and ending at the nape of the neck. Jones was unable to pinpoint exactly the animal from which the Pangboche hairs were taken. He was, however, convinced that the hairs were not from a bear or [[Hominidae|anthropoid ape]], but instead from the shoulder of a coarse-haired hoofed animal.<ref>Izzard</ref>

[[Sławomir Rawicz]] claimed in his book ''The Long Walk'', published in 1956, that as he and some others were crossing the Himalayas in the winter of 1940, their path was blocked for hours by two bipedal animals that were doing seemingly nothing but shuffling around in the snow.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rawicz, Sławomir|year=1956|title=The Long Walk|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|chapter=22|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780762761296/page/258 258–60]|isbn=978-1-59921-975-2|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780762761296/page/258}}</ref>

Beginning in 1957, the Texas oil businessman and adventurer [[Tom Slick]] led an expedition to the Nepal Himalayas to investigate Yeti reports, with the anthropologist prof. [[Carleton S. Coon]] as one of its members.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=A. m Rosenthal Special To the New York |date=5 February 1957 |title=TEXAN WILL LEAD 'SNOWMAN' HUNT; Will Investigate Tales That Strange Creature Roams Himalayas in Nepal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/02/05/archives/texan-will-lead-snowman-hunt-will-investigate-tales-that-strange.html |access-date=14 February 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124051002/https://www.nytimes.com/1957/02/05/archives/texan-will-lead-snowman-hunt-will-investigate-tales-that-strange.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1959, supposed Yeti [[feces]] were collected by one of Slick's expeditions; fecal analysis found a [[Parasitism|parasite]] which could not be classified.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} The United States government thought that finding the Yeti was likely enough to create three rules for American expeditions searching for it: obtain a Nepalese permit, do not harm the Yeti except in self-defense, and let the Nepalese government approve any news reporting on the animal's discovery.<ref name="bedard20110902">{{cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/09/02/documents-show-feds-believed-in-yeti?google_editors_picks=true|title=Documents Show Feds Believed in the Yeti|work=U.S. News & World Report|date=2 September 2011|access-date=2 September 2011|author1=Bedard, Paul|author2=Fox, Lauren|archive-date=19 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619215612/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/09/02/documents-show-feds-believed-in-yeti?google_editors_picks=true|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1959, actor [[James Stewart]], while visiting India, reportedly smuggled the so-called [[Pangboche Hand]], by concealing it in his luggage when he flew from India to London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anomalist.com/milestones/stewart.html|title=Milestones – Jimmy Stewart|publisher=Anomalist.com|date=2 July 1997|access-date=27 January 2012|archive-date=3 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103041638/http://www.anomalist.com/milestones/stewart.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1960, [[Edmund Hillary|Sir Edmund Hillary]] mounted the [[1960–61 Silver Hut expedition]] to the Himalayas, which was to collect and analyse physical evidence of the Yeti. Hillary borrowed a supposed Yeti scalp from the Khumjung monastery then himself and Khumjo Chumbi (the village headman), brought the scalp back to London<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/23/yeti-scalp-nepal-edmund-hillary|title=From the archive: Yeti Scalp (They Say It's 240 Years Old) Is Here – by Air|date=22 December 2009|orig-date=23 December 1960|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=12 March 2019}}</ref> where a small sample was cut off for testing. Marca Burns made a detailed examination of the sample of skin and hair from the margin of the alleged Yeti scalp and compared it with similar samples from the [[Himalayan serow|serow]], [[Tibetan blue bear|blue bear]] and [[Asian black bear|black bear]]. Burns concluded the sample "was probably made from the skin of an animal closely resembling the sampled specimen of Serow, but definitely not identical with it: possibly a local variety or race of the same species, or a different but closely related species."<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=29787501|title=Report on a Sample of Skin and Hair from the Khumjung Yeti Scalp|journal=Genus|volume=18|issue=1/4|pages=80–88|last1=Burns|first1=Marca|year=1962}}</ref>

Up to the 1960s, belief in the yeti was relatively common in Bhutan and in 1966 a Bhutanese stamp was made to honour the creature.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Bhutan Stamp Shows 'Abomidable Snowman' |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QrhIAAAAIBAJ&pg=5041,5654462 |newspaper=Associated Press via The Morning Record |date=10 December 1966 |author=Kronish, Syd |access-date=11 April 2020 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301070720/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QrhIAAAAIBAJ&pg=5041,5654462 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in the 21st century, belief in the being has declined.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Yeti-myth-dying-out-as-Bhutan-modernizes-3273266.php |author=Sullivan, Tim |agency=Associated Press |date=17 August 2008 |title=Yeti myth dying out as Bhutan modernizes |access-date=20 February 2011 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716045937/http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-08-17/news/17125008_1_bhutan-yeti-abominable-snowman |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XPpRAAAAIBAJ&pg=1154,4902576&dq=yeti+bhutan&hl=en |title=Losing the yeti in the forgotten nation of Butan |work=The Victoria Advocate |author=Sullivan, Tim |date=10 August 2008 |access-date=11 April 2020 |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227023045/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XPpRAAAAIBAJ&pg=1154,4902576&dq=yeti+bhutan&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1970, British mountaineer [[Don Whillans]] claimed to have witnessed a creature when scaling [[Annapurna]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Perrin|first=Jim|year=2005|title=The villain: the life of Don Whillans|publisher=The Mountaineers Books|pages=261–62|isbn=0-09-941672-7}}.</ref> He reported that he once saw it moving on all fours.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Loxton|first1=Daniel|last2=Prothero|first2=Donald R.|title=Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTsgAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-231-52681-4|page=102}}</ref>

In 1983, Himalayan conservationist [[Daniel C. Taylor]] and Himalayan natural historian Robert L. Fleming Jr. led a yeti expedition into Nepal's Barun Valley (suggested by discovery in the Barun in 1972 of footprints alleged to be yeti by Cronin & McNeely<ref>{{cite book|last=Cronin|first=Edward W.|year=1979|title=The Arun: A Natural History of the World's Deepest Valley|location=Boston|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|page=153|isbn=0-395-26299-2}}</ref>). The Taylor-Fleming expedition also discovered similar yeti-like footprints (hominoid appearing with both a hallux and bipedal gait), intriguing large nests in trees, and vivid reports from local villagers of two bears, ''rukh bhalu'' ('tree bear', small, reclusive, weighing about {{convert|150|lb|kg}}) and ''bhui bhalu'' ('ground bear', aggressive, weighing up to {{convert|400|lb|kg}}). Further interviews across Nepal gave evidence of local belief in two different bears. Skulls were collected, these were compared to known skulls at the [[Smithsonian Institution]], [[American Museum of Natural History]], and [[British Museum]], and confirmed identification of a single species, the [[Asiatic black bear]], showing no morphological difference between 'tree bear' and 'ground bear.'<ref>Taylor, pp. 106–20.</ref> (This despite an intriguing skull in the [[British Museum]] of a 'tree bear' collected in 1869 by Oldham and discussed in the ''Annals of the Royal Zoological Society''.)

===21st century===
In 2004, [[Henry Gee]], editor of the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', mentioned the Yeti as an example of folk belief deserving 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."<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/news041025-2|title=Flores, God and Cryptozoology|year=2004|last1=Gee|first1=Henry|journal=Nature News}}</ref>

In early December 2007, American television presenter [[Joshua Gates]] and his team ([[Destination Truth]]) reported finding a series of footprints in the Everest region of Nepal resembling descriptions of Yeti.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7122705.stm |title='Yeti prints' found near Everest |access-date=1 December 2007 |author=Haviland, Charles |date=1 December 2007 |work=BBC News |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215185517/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7122705.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Each of the footprints measured {{convert|33|cm|abbr=on}} in length with five toes that measured a total of {{convert|25|cm|abbr=on}} across. Casts were made of the prints for further research. The footprints were examined by [[Jeffrey Meldrum]] of Idaho State University, who believed them to be too [[Morphology (biology)|morphologically]] accurate to be fake or man-made, before changing his mind after making further investigations.<ref>Daegling, David J. (2004) ''Bigfoot Exposed: An Anthropologist Examines America's Enduring Legend'', AltaMira Press, p. 260, footnote 21, {{ISBN|0-7591-0538-3}}.</ref> Later in 2009, in a TV show, Gates presented hair samples with a forensic analyst concluding that the hair contained an unknown DNA sequence.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131221043436/http://www.syfy.com/destinationtruth/episodes/season/3/episode/309/the_bhutan_yeti The Bhutan Yeti | Episodes | Destination Truth]. Syfy. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> A cast of the footprint is kept in the queue of [[Expedition Everest]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2008 |title="Yeti" cast to be on display at Animal Kingdom |url=https://attractionsmagazine.com/yeti-cast-to-be-on-display-at-animal-kingdom/ |access-date=1 May 2025 |website=Attractions Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 25 July 2008, the BBC reported that hairs collected in the remote [[Garo Hills]] area of [[North-East India]] by Dipu Marak had been analysed at [[Oxford Brookes University]] in the UK by primatologist Anna Nekaris and [[microscopy]] expert Jon Wells. These initial tests were inconclusive, and ape conservation expert [[Ian Redmond]] told the BBC that there was similarity between the cuticle pattern of these hairs and specimens collected by Edmund Hillary during Himalayan expeditions in the 1950s and donated to the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]], and announced planned [[DNA]] analysis.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lawson|first=Alastair|title='Yeti hair' to get DNA analysis|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7525060.stm|publisher=BBC|date=25 July 2008|access-date=19 August 2011|archive-date=4 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904033217/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7525060.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> This analysis has since revealed that the hair came from the [[Himalayan goral]].<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7666900.stm 'Yeti hairs' belong to a goat] By Alastair Lawson&nbsp;– BBC News&nbsp;– 11:20 GMT, Monday, 13 October 2008</ref>

A group of Chinese scientists and explorers in 2010 proposed to renew searches in the [[Shennongjia]] Forestry District of [[Hubei]] province, which was the site of expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/china/2010-10/12/content_21102561.htm |title=Search for ape man continues against the odds |publisher=China.org.cn |date=12 October 2010 |access-date=27 January 2012}}</ref>

At a 2011 conference in Russia, participating scientists and enthusiasts declared having "95% evidence" of the Yeti's existence.<ref name="guardian enthusiasts insist">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/10/siberia-home-to-yeti-bigfoot | title=Siberia home to Yeti, Bigfoot enthusiasts insist |work=The Guardian | date=10 October 2011 | author=Elder, Miriam | quote=More than a dozen scientists and yeti enthusiasts [...] at a day-long conference [...] "Conference participants came to the conclusion that the artefacts found give 95% evidence of the habitation of the 'snow man' on Kemerovo region territory," the statement said.}}</ref> However, this claim was disputed later; American anthropologist and anatomist [[Jeffrey Meldrum]], who was present during the Russian expedition, claimed the "evidence" found was simply an attempt by local officials to drum up publicity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aol.com/2011/11/22/yeti-siberian-snowman-evidence_n_1107370.html#s388533 |title=Yeti Evidence Falls Flat: Scientist Says Local Officials Staged Siberian Snowman Hunt For Publicity |publisher=Aol.com |access-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111129105944/http://www.aol.com/2011/11/22/yeti-siberian-snowman-evidence_n_1107370.html#s388533 |archive-date=29 November 2011 }}</ref>

A yeti was reportedly captured in Russia in December 2011.<ref name="A possible yeti captured in Russia!">[http://www.interfax.ru/russia/news.asp?id=224287 В горах Ингушетии пограничники поймали существо, похожее на "снежного человека"]. interfax.ru (28 December 2011)</ref> Initially the story claimed that a hunter reported having seen a bear-like creature trying to kill one of his sheep but, after he fired his gun, the creature ran into a forest on two legs. The story then claimed that border patrol soldiers captured a hairy two-legged female creature similar to a gorilla that ate meat and vegetation. This was later revealed as a hoax or possibly a publicity stunt for charity.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In April 2019, an Indian army mountaineering expedition team claimed to have spotted mysterious 'Yeti' footprints, measuring {{convert|81|by|38|cm|abbr=on}}, near the [[Makalu]] base camp.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mysterious footprints of mythical beast Yeti sighted, claims Indian Army |journal=[[The Times of India]] |date=30 April 2019 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mysterious-footprints-of-mythical-beast-yeti-sighted-claims-indian-army/articleshow/69107428.cms?from=mdr |access-date=30 April 2019 |archive-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617051157/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/mysterious-footprints-of-mythical-beast-yeti-sighted-claims-indian-army/articleshow/69107428.cms?from=mdr |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Proposed explanations==
The misidentification of Himalayan wildlife has been proposed as an explanation for some Yeti sightings, including the ''chu-teh'', a [[Colobinae|langur]] monkey<ref name=Chu-Teh>{{cite web|url=http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/E2K1954/slides/7.%20Yeti%20from%20Book-bw.html |title=Everest to Kangchenjunga 1954 " Viewing 7. Yeti from Book-bw |publisher=Cabernet.demon.co.uk |access-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311053121/http://www.cabernet.demon.co.uk/JAJ/E2K1954/slides/7.%20Yeti%20from%20Book-bw.html |archive-date=11 March 2007 }}</ref> living at lower altitudes; the [[Tibetan blue bear]]; or the [[Himalayan brown bear]] or ''dzu-teh'', also known as the Himalayan red bear.<ref name=Chu-Teh/>

Similarly, it is possible that sightings have been deliberate hoaxes. [[Skepticism|Sceptic]] [[James Randi]] notes that convincing costumes of gorillas or other apes have been used in films, which are more convincing than any representations of the Yeti provided by believers.<ref name="randi-1995" /> Randi also argues that there would need to be ''many'' creatures in order to maintain the gene pool, and given the proposed size of the Yeti, it is hard to imagine that they have been so elusive if they are real.<ref name="randi-1995" />

A well publicised expedition to [[Bhutan]] initially reported that a hair sample had been obtained, which by [[DNA]] analysis by Professor [[Bryan Sykes]] could not be matched to any known animal.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091810/http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=18&id=149706&usrsess=1 Mystery Primate]. The Statesmen</ref> Analysis completed after the media release, however, clearly showed the samples were from a [[brown bear]] (''Ursus arctos'') and an [[Asian black bear|Asiatic black bear]] (''Ursus thibetanus'').<ref>{{cite book |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 1986, [[South Tyrol]]ean mountaineer [[Reinhold Messner]] claimed in his autobiography ''My Quest for the Yeti'' that the Yeti is actually the endangered [[Himalayan brown bear]], ''Ursus arctos isabellinus'', or [[Tibetan blue bear]], ''U. a. pruinosus'', which can walk both upright or on all fours.<ref>Trull, D. (1998) [https://web.archive.org/web/20040605022325/http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/yetiBear.htm The Grizzly Truth About the Yeti&nbsp;– Stalking the Abominable Snow-Bear].</ref><ref name=tg>{{cite news |last=Wollaston |first=Sam |title=The yeti hunter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/aug/10/travelbooks.samwollaston |access-date=23 February 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 August 2000}}</ref>

=== Asiatic black bear theory ===
The 1983 [[Barun Valley]] discoveries prompted three years of research on the 'tree bear' possibility by Taylor, Fleming, John Craighead and Tirtha Shrestha. From that research, the conclusion was that the [[Asiatic black bear]], when about two years old, spends much time in trees to avoid attack by larger male bears on the ground ('ground bears'). During this tree period (that may last two years), young bears train their inner claw outward, allowing an opposable grip. The imprint in the snow of a hind paw coming over the front paw that appears to have a hallux, especially when the bear is going slightly uphill so the hind pawprint extends the overprint backward, makes a hominid-appearing track, both in that it is elongated like a human foot, but with a "thumb", and in that a four-footed animal's gait now appears bipedal.<ref>Covey, Jacob (2006) ''Beasts: Traditional Hidden Creatures'', Seattle, Washington, Fantagraphic Books/WW Norton, pp. 191–93.</ref> This "yeti discovery", in the words of ''[[National Geographic Magazine]]'' editor Bill Garrett, "[by] on-site research sweeps away much of the 'smoke and mirrors' and gives us a believable yeti".<ref>Taylor, back cover.</ref>

This fieldwork in Nepal's Barun Valley led directly to the initiation of the [[Makalu-Barun National Park]] that protected over half a million acres in 1991, and across the border with China, the [[Qomolangma national nature preserve]] in the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] that protected over six million acres. In the words of Honorary President of the [[American Alpine Club]], Robert H. Bates, this yeti discovery "has apparently solved the mystery of the yeti, or at least part of it, and in so doing added to the world's great wildlife preserves",<ref>{{cite book|author=Davis, Wade |title=The Clouded Leopard: A Book of Travels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLIdAQAAIAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks|isbn=978-1-84511-453-4}}</ref> so that the shy animal, and the mysteries and myths of the Himalayas that it represents, can continue to live within a protected area nearly the size of Switzerland.

=== DNA analysis ===
In 2013, a call was put out by scientists from the universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Lausanne|Lausanne]] for people claiming to have samples from these sorts of creatures. A mitochondrial DNA analysis of the [[MT-RNR1|12S RNA]] gene was undertaken on samples of hair from an unidentified animal from [[Ladakh]] in northern India on the west of the Himalayas, and one from [[Bhutan]]. These samples were compared with those in [[GenBank]], the international repository of gene sequences, and matched a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in [[Svalbard|Svalbard, Norway]] that dates back to between 40,000 and 120,000 years ago.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|title=British scientist 'solves' mystery of Himalayan yetis|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24564487|publisher=BBC|date=17 October 2013|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505191452/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24564487|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates |date=July 2014 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society |volume=281 |issue=1789 |article-number=20140161 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2014.0161|pmid=24990672 |last1=Sykes |first1=B. C. |last2=Mullis |first2=R. A. |last3=Hagenmuller |first3=C. |last4=Melton |first4=T. W. |last5=Sartori |first5=M. |pmc=4100498 }}</ref> The result suggests that, barring hoaxes of planted samples or contamination, bears in these regions may have been taken to be yeti.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/yeti-dna-ancient-polar-bear-scientists |title=Has DNA really solved the mystery of the yeti? |author=Alok Jha |work=Guardian |date= 17 October 2013 }}</ref> Professor of evolutionary genetics at the [[University of Cambridge]], Bill Amos, doubted the samples were of polar bears in the Himalayas, but was "90% convinced that there is a bear in these regions that has been mistaken for a yeti". Professor [[Bryan Sykes]], whose team carried out the analysis of the samples at Oxford, has his own theory. He believes that the samples may have come from a hybrid species of bear produced from a mating between a brown bear and a polar bear.<ref name="bbc" /><ref name="AP-20131017">{{cite news |last=Lawless |first=Jill |title=DNA Links Mysterious Yeti To Ancient Polar Bear |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131017/DA9G5VB01.html |date=17 October 2013 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=22 October 2013 |archive-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060552/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131017/DA9G5VB01.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A research of 12S rRNA published in 2015 revealed that the hair samples collected are most likely those of brown bears.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Gutiérrez|first1= Eliécer|last2= Pine|first2= Ronald|date= 16 March 2015|title= No need to replace an "anomalous" primate (Primates) with an "anomalous" bear (Carnivora, Ursidae)|journal= ZooKeys|issue= 487|pages= 141–54|doi= 10.3897/zookeys.487.9176|pmc=4366689|pmid=25829853|bibcode= 2015ZooK..487..141G|doi-access= free}}</ref> In 2017, a new analysis compared mtDNA sequences of bears from the region with DNA extracted from hair and other samples claimed to have come from yeti. It included hair thought to be from the same preserved specimen as the anomalous Sykes sample, and showed it to have been a Himalayan brown bear, while other purported yeti samples were actually from the Tibetan blue bear, Asiatic black bear and a domestic dog.<ref name="lan">{{Cite journal |last1=Lan |first1=T. |last2=Gill |first2=S. |last3=Bellemain |first3=E. |last4=Bischof |first4=R. |last5=Zawaz |first5=M.A. |last6=Lindqvist |first6=C. |date=6 December 2017 |title=Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=284 |issue=1868 |article-number=20171804 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.1804 |pmid=29187630 |pmc=5740279}}</ref>

=== Linguistics ===
In 2003, Japanese researcher and mountaineer Dr. Makoto Nebuka published the results of his twelve-year [[Linguistics|linguistic]] study, postulating that the word "Yeti" is a corruption of the word "meti", a regional dialect term for a "bear". Nebuka claims that ethnic Tibetans fear and worship the bear as a supernatural being.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 September 1998 |title=Tibet: Mystic Trivia |url=http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Tib.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113172225/http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Tib.htm |archive-date=13 January 2012 |access-date=27 January 2012 |publisher=Iras.ucalgary.ca}}</ref> Nebuka's claims were subject to almost immediate criticism, and he 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>{{cite news |author=Lak, Daniel |date=26 September 2003 |title=Yeti's 'non-existence' hard to bear |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3143020.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113155324/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3143020.stm |archive-date=13 January 2008 |access-date=27 January 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Daniel C. Taylor]] published a comprehensive analysis of the century-long Yeti literature, giving added evidence to the Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus'') explanation, building on the initial Barun Valley discoveries. His book gave a meticulous explanation for the iconic Yeti footprint photographed by [[Eric Shipton]] in 1950, the 1972 Cronin-McNeely print, as well all other unexplained Yeti footprints. To complete this explanation, Taylor also located a never-before published photograph in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society, taken in 1950 by [[Eric Shipton]], that included scratches that are clearly bear nail marks.<ref>Daniel C Taylor, "Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery," (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2017)</ref> Alleged Yeti footprints have been generally interpreted as bear-made.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Sandra E. |date=30 April 2019 |title=Yeti Footprints Found in Nepal Are Maybe (Definitely) From a Bear |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/world/asia/yeti-footprints-indian-army.html |access-date=24 June 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Daniel C. |date=30 April 2019 |title=A researcher proved Yeti footprints were made by bears – but understands why the myth persists |url=https://scroll.in/article/921823/how-a-scholar-proved-yeti-footprints-were-made-by-bears-and-why-he-thinks-it-lives-on-as-a-symbol |access-date=24 June 2025 |website=Scroll.in |language=en}}</ref>

=== Ape theory ===
Some speculate these reported creatures could be present-day specimens of the [[extinction|extinct]] giant ape ''[[Gigantopithecus]]''.<ref>Gilman, Laura Anne (2002) ''Yeti, The Abominable Snowman'', The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., {{ISBN|0-8239-3565-5}}</ref><ref>Schmalzer, Sigrid (2008) ''The People's Peking Man: Popular Science and Human Identity in Twentieth-century China'', The University of Chicago Press, p. 220, {{ISBN|978-0-226-73859-8}}</ref><ref>Shrestha, Tej Kumar (1997) ''Mammals of Nepal'', Nepal: R. K. Printers, p. 352, {{ISBN|0-9524390-6-9}}</ref><ref>Truet, Turin and Gilman, Laura Anne (2011) ''Searching For Yeti: The Abominable Snowman'', The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., p. 37, {{ISBN|978-1-4488-4764-8}}</ref> However, the Yeti is generally described as bipedal, and most scientists believe ''Gigantopithecus'' to have been [[Quadrupedalism|quadrupedal]], and so massive that, unless it evolved specifically as a bipedal ape (like the [[Hominidae|hominids]]), walking upright would have been even more difficult for the now extinct primate than it is for its extant quadrupedal relative, the [[orangutan]].

==See also==
; General
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|style=max-width: 130em;|
* [[Yeti in popular culture]]
* [[List of legendary creatures]]
* [[Tsul 'Kalu]]
* [[Denisova hominin]]
* [[Wild Man of the Navidad]]
* [[List of topics characterised as pseudoscience]]
* ''[[Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend]]''
}}

; Similar alleged creatures
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Almas (folklore)|Almas]]&nbsp;– Central Asia
* [[Am Fear Liath Mòr]]&nbsp;– United Kingdom
* [[Amomongo]]&nbsp;– Philippines
* [[Barmanou]]&nbsp;– Afghanistan and Pakistan
* [[Bigfoot]]&nbsp;– North America
* [[Daeva]] or Div&nbsp;– Tajikistan, Iran
* [[Chuchunya]]&nbsp;– Siberia
* [[Fouke Monster]]&nbsp;– United States
* [[Hibagon]]&nbsp;– Japan
* [[Mande Barung]]&nbsp;– India
* [[Mapinguari]]&nbsp;– South America
* [[Menk]] – Russia
* [[Momo the Monster]]&nbsp;– United States
* [[Nittaewo]] - Sri Lanka
* [[Ochokochi]]&nbsp;– Georgia
* [[Orang Mawas]]&nbsp;– Malaysia
* [[Orang Pendek]]&nbsp;– Indonesia
* [[Skunk ape]]&nbsp;– United States
* [[Yeren]]&nbsp;– China
* [[Yowie]]&nbsp;– Australia
}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* [[Ralph Izzard|Izzard, Ralph]] (1955) ''The Abominable Snowman Adventure''. Hodder and Stoughton.
* Taylor, Daniel (1995). ''Something Hidden Behind the Ranges: An Himalayan Quest''. San Francisco: Mercury House. {{ISBN|1562790730}}.
* Tilman, H. W. (1938). Appendix B. ''Mount Everest 1938''. Pilgrim Publishing. {{ISBN|81-7769-175-9}}. pp.&nbsp;127–37.

==Further reading==
* Ann E. Bodie, ''The Exploding Cow Story: Concerning the History of the Yeti Throughout the Ages'', New York: St.Martin's Press,1986
* {{cite book |author=Adam Davies |title=Manbests: A Personal Investigation |at=Chapter 3 |publisher=CFZ Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-909488-21-2}}
* {{cite book |author=Jean-Paul Debenat |title=Asian Wild Man: The Yeti, Yeren & Almasty: Cultural Aspects & Evidence of Reality |translator=Paul Leblond |publisher=Hancock House |year=2015 |isbn=978-0888397-195}}
* {{cite book |author=Bernard Heuvelmans |author-link=Bernard Heuvelmans |title=On the Track of Unknown Animals |at=Chapter 6 |date=1959 |publisher=Kegan Paul International Ltd. |location=London |isbn=978-0-7103-0498-8 |edition=3rd [1995]}}
* [[Charles Howard-Bury]], ''Mount Everest The Reconnaissance'', 1921, Edward Arnold, {{ISBN|1-135-39935-2}}.
* [[John Angelo Jackson]], ''More than Mountains'', Chapters 10 (p.&nbsp;92) & 11, ''Prelude to the Snowman Expedition & The Snowman Expedition'', George Harrap & Co, 1954
* John Angelo Jackson, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090108143742/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}}.
* {{cite book |author1=Daniel Loxton |author2-link=Donald Prothero |author2=Donald Prothero |title=Abominable Science: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids |year=2013 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/abominablescienc0000loxt/page/73 73–116] |others=Chapter 3, written by Prothero |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-15320-1 |author1-link=Daniel Loxton |url=https://archive.org/details/abominablescienc0000loxt/page/73}}
* {{cite book |author=Rupert Matthews |title=Sasquatch: North America's Enduring Mystery; ''Kindle locations 1624–1805, 2588–94'' |year=2014 |orig-date=2008 |publisher=Arcturus Publishing |isbn=978-1-78404-107-6}}
* [[Reinhold Messner]], ''My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000, {{ISBN|0-312-20394-2}}
* {{cite book |author=Christopher Murphy |title=Know the Sasquatch/Bigfoot: Sequel and Update to Meet the Sasquatch |year=2009 |pages=278–83 |publisher=Hancock House |isbn=978-0-88839-689-1}}
* [[John Napier (primatologist)|John Napier]] (MRCS, IRCS, DSC) (1972). ''Bigfoot: The Yeti and Sasquatch in Myth and Reality'' pages=34–66, 126–39 {{ISBN|0-525-06658-6}}.
* {{cite book |author=Brian Regal |orig-date=2008 |year=2013 |title=Searching for Sasquatch: Crackpots, Eggheads, and Cryptozoology |pages=31–53 |others=Chapter 2 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-34943-9 |author-link=Brian Regal}}
* {{cite book |author=Shackley, Myra |year=1983 |title=Still Living?: Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-01298-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/wildmenyetisasqu00shac}}
* Gardner Soule, 1966, ''Trail of the Abominable Snowman'', New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, {{ISBN|0-399-60642-4}}
* Stonor, Charles (1955). [https://archive.org/details/TheSherpaAndTheSnowman ''The Sherpa and the Snowman'']. London: Hollis and Carter. Recounts the 1955 ''[[Daily 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 Himalayas and its people.
* {{cite book |author=Odette Tchernine |title=The Snowman and Company |publisher=Robert Hale Ltd. |year=1961}}
* {{cite book |author=Odette Tchernine |title=In Pursuit of the Abominable Snowman |publisher=Taplinger Publishing |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-8008-4187-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/inpursuitofabomi00tche}}
* Sir [[Francis Younghusband]] (1926). ''The Epic of Mount Everest''. Edward Arnold & Co.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114000/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/videos/yeti-legends/ "Yeti Legends"]—[[National Geographic Channel|National Geographic]]

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[[Category:Yeti| ]]
[[Category:Cryptids]]
[[Category:Himalayan legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Mythological creatures]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]