Yeti

Yeti

(Abominable Snowman Migoi, Meh-teh et al.)
Purported Yeti scalp at Khumjung monastery
Creature
Grouping	Cryptid, Orangutan
Sub grouping	Homin, Hominid
Data
Country	Nepal, China, India, Mongolia
Region	Himalayas
Habitat	Mountains

The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region,^[1] and are part of their history and mythology. Stories of the Yeti first emerged as a facet of Western popular culture in the 19th century.

The scientific community generally regards the Yeti as a legend, given the lack of conclusive evidence,^[2] yet it remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. The Yeti may be considered a sort of parallel to the Bigfoot of North America.

Contents 1 Etymology and alternate names 1.1 The "Abominable Snowman" 2 History 2.1 19th century 2.2 20th century 2.3 21st century 3 Possible explanations 4 In popular culture 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 4.3 Literature 4.4 Music 4.5 Theme parks 4.6 Video games 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Footnotes 6.2 General references

Etymology and alternate names

The word Yeti is derived from Tibetan: གཡའ་དྲེད་; Wylie: g.ya' dred), a compound of the words Tibetan: གཡའ་; Wylie: g.ya' "rocky", "rocky place" and (Tibetan: དྲེད་; Wylie: dred) "bear".^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Pranavananda^[3] 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".^[3][7][8]

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

• Meh-teh (Tibetan: མི་དྲེད་; Wylie: mi dred) translates as "man-bear".^[5][7][9]
• Dzu-teh – 'dzu' translates as "cattle" and the full meaning translates as "cattle bear" and is the Himalayan Brown Bear.^{[4][7][8][10][11]}
• Migoi or Mi-go (Tibetan: མི་རྒོད་; Wylie: mi rgod) translates as "wild man".^[8][11]
• 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.^[12]
• Kang Admi – "Snow Man".^[11]
• JoBran – "Man-eater".^[11]

The "Abominable Snowman"

The appellation "Abominable Snowman" was not coined until 1921, the same year Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Howard-Bury led the joint Alpine Club and Royal Geographical Society "Everest Reconnaissance Expedition"^[13][14] which he chronicled in Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921.^[15] In the book, Howard-Bury includes an account of crossing the "Lhakpa-la" at 21,000 ft (6,400 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 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".^[15] "Metoh" translates as "man-bear" and "Kang-mi" translates as "snowman".^{[3][5][11][16]}

Confusion exists between Howard-Bury's recitation of the term "metoh-kangmi"^[13][15] and the term used in Bill Tilman's book Mount Everest, 1938^[17] where Tilman had used the words "metch", which cannot exist in the Tibetan language,^[18] and "kangmi" when relating the coining of the term "Abominable Snowman".^{[5][11][17][19]} Further evidence of "metch" being a misnomer is provided by Tibetan language authority Professor David Snellgrove from the 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."^[18] Documentation suggests that the term "metch-kangmi" is derived from one source (from the year 1921).^[17] It has been suggested that "metch" is simply a misspelling of "metoh".

The origin of the term "Abominable Snowman" is rather colourful. It began when Mr Henry Newman, a longtime contributor to The Statesman in Kolkata, using the pen name "Kim",^[6] interviewed the porters of the "Everest Reconnaissance expedition" upon their return to Darjeeling.^{[17][20][21][22]} Newman mistranslated the word "metoh" as "filthy" or "dirty", substituting the term "abominable", perhaps out of artistic license.^[23] 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'".^[17]

History

19th century

In 1832, James Prinsep's Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal published trekker 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 footprints appeared in 1889 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 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."^[24]

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.

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 (4,600 m) near Zemu Glacier. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 to 300 yd (180 to 270 m), 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 six to seven inches long by four inches wide^[25]... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."

Western interest in the Yeti peaked dramatically in the 1950s. While attempting to scale Mount Everest in 1951, Eric Shipton took photographs of a number of large prints in the snow, at about 6,000 m (20,000 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 are those of a mundane creature that have been distorted by the melting snow. It should also be noted that Eric Shipton was a notorious practical joker.^[26]

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 skeptical about its existence.^[27]

During the Daily Mail Snowman Expedition of 1954,^[28] 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.^[29] 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.

On March 19, 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 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,^[30][31] 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 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 of a bear or anthropoid ape. He suggested that the hairs were from the shoulder of a coarse-haired hoofed animal.^[32]

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. Rawicz's entire account has since come to be regarded as fictional.

Beginning in 1957, wealthy American oilman Tom Slick funded a few missions to investigate Yeti reports. In 1959, supposed Yeti feces were collected by one of Slick's expeditions; fecal analysis found a parasite which could not be classified. Cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans wrote, "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal."^[33]

In 1959, 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.^[34]

In 1960, Hillary mounted an expedition to collect and analyze physical evidence of the Yeti. He sent a supposed Yeti "scalp" from the Khumjung monastery to the West for testing, whose results indicated the scalp was manufactured from the skin of a serow, a goat-like Himalayan antelope. Anthropologist Myra Shackley disagreed with this conclusion on the grounds that the "hairs from the scalp look distinctly monkey-like and that it contains parasitic mites of a species different from that recovered from the serow."

In 1970, British mountaineer Don Whillans claimed to have witnessed a creature when scaling Annapurna.^[35] According to Whillans, while scouting for a campsite, he heard some odd cries which his Sherpa guide attributed to a Yeti's call. That night, he 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, ape-like creature for 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.

There is a famous Yeti hoax, known as the Snow Walker Film. 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. Fox purchased and used the footage in their later program on The World's Greatest Hoaxes.^[36]

21st century

In 2004, Henry Gee, editor of the prestigious journal Nature, mentioned the Yeti as an example of a legend 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 ... Now, cryptozoology, the study of such fabulous creatures, can come in from the cold."^[37]

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.^[38] Each of the footprints measured 33 cm (13 in) in length with five toes that measured a total of 25 cm (9.8 in) 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 morphologically accurate to be fake or man made. Meldrum also stated that they were very similar to a pair of Bigfoot footprints that were found in another area. Then, during the 3rd season mid finale visit to Bhutan, Gates' team found a hair sample on a tree that they took back to have analyzed. After it was tested, it was concluded that the hair belonged to an unknown primate.

On July 25, 2008, the BBC reported that hairs collected in the remote Garo Hills area of North-East India by Dipu Marak had been analyzed 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 Hilary during Himalayan expeditions in the 1950s and donated to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and announced planned DNA analysis.^[39] This analysis has since revealed that the hair came from the Himalayan Goral.^[40]

On October 20, 2008 a team of seven Japanese adventurers photographed footprints which could allegedly have been made by a Yeti. The team's leader, Yoshiteru Takahashi claims to have observed a Yeti on a 2003 expedition and is determined to capture the creature on film.^[41]

Possible explanations

Misidentification of Himalayan wildlife has been proposed as an explanation for some Yeti sightings, including the Chu-Teh, a Langur monkey^[42] living at lower altitudes, the Tibetan Blue Bear, the Himalayan Brown Bear or Dzu-Teh, also known as the Himalayan Red Bear.^[42] Some have also suggested the Yeti could actually be a human hermit.

One well publicized expedition to Bhutan reported that a hair sample had been obtained that, after DNA analysis by Professor Bryan Sykes, could not be matched to any known animal.^[43] 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).^[44]

In 1986, 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 isabellinus, that can walk upright or on all fours.^[45]

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". Nebuka claims that the ethnic Tibetans fear and worship the bear as a supernatural being.^[46] 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."^[47]

Some speculate that these reported creatures could be present-day specimens of the extinct giant ape Gigantopithecus. However, while the Yeti is generally described as bipedal, most scientists believe Gigantopithecus to have been quadrupedal, 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.

In popular culture

The Yeti has become a cultural icon, appearing in movies, literature, music, and video games.

Film

Significant film appearances include The Snow Creature (1954), The Abominable Snowman (1957), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, (2008) Yetiko Khojima (Yeti; in search of Yeti, 2010).

Television

The Yeti plays significant roles in some television shows, including the annual American Christmas broadcast special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; in various Looney Tunes cartoons; in a Spider-Man story from The Electric Company; in "That's Snow Ghost!" in episode 17 (season one) of "Scooby Doo"; in DuckTales Episode 45; as the abominable snow monster Lost Crown of Genghis Khan; in Jonny Quest Episode 25; as the robotic Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen, a six-part serial from 1967 in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who (they returned in The Web of Fear, The Five Doctors, and Downtime); in Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive; in The Secret Saturdays: in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien; and in the 1977 American TV movie Snow Beast^[48].

Literature

In literature the Yeti has appeared in Tintin in Tibet, by Hergé, in The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, the 38th book in R. L. Stine's Goosebumps franchise, and in a gamebook in the Choose Your Own Adventure series. The Abominable Snowman is a character in the Marvel Comics Universe and the Snowman is a character in the DC Comics Universe. The Yeti was featured in the Indian comic Super Commando Dhruva. The name Mi-go is also used in the "Cthulhu Mythos" of H.P. Lovecraft and others, e.g., Lovecraft's story "The Whisperer in Darkness." It is also used in the adult fantasy book "Monster," by A. Lee Martinez where it is found eating ice cream out of a grocery store freezer. A quest for the Yeti is described in Philip Kerr's "Esau".

Music

American heavy metal band High on Fire included their song "The Yeti" on their second album Surrounded by Thieves. Rock band Clutch (Band) have a track entitled "The Yeti" on their third album The Elephant Riders. A psychedelic trance collaboration called "The mystery of the Yeti", featuring many prominent names of the genre, was released on two albums between the years 1996...1999.

Theme parks

Walt Disney World's attraction Expedition Everest is themed around the folklore of the Yeti and features a 25-foot-tall audio-animatronic Yeti which appears during the ride.^[49] At Disneyland a similar ride named the Matterhorn Bobsleds features three audio-animatronic Abominable Snowmen.

Video games

The Yeti has appeared in several video games, including RuneScape, Diablo II, Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2, Zoo Tycoon, Guild Wars Factions, World of Warcraft, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate, King's Quest III, King's Quest V, Tomb Raider 2, Tomb Raider Underworld, MapleStory, SkiFree, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, PoxNora, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy XII, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Tintin In Tibet, NBA Street, Plants vs. Zombies, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Titan Quest, Carnivores: Ice Age, Tales of the Abyss, Silkroad Online, Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, Urban Yeti!, Yetisports, Mega Man Star Force 2, and Crossbow.

See also

• List of cryptids
• List of legendary creatures

Similar alleged creatures

Almas – Mongolia Amomongo – Philippines Ban-manush – Bangladesh Barmanou – Afghanistan and Pakistan Batutut – Vietnam Bigfoot – North America Chuchunya – Siberia Fear liath – Scotland Fouke Monster – America Grassman – America

Hibagon – Japan Mande Barung – India Mapinguari – South America Momo the Monster – America Nuk-luk – Canada Orang Mawas – Malaysia Orang Pendek – Indonesia Skunk ape – America Yeren – China Yowie – Australia

References

Footnotes

General references

• John Napier (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, 1926, Edward Arnold & Co. The expedition that inadvertently coined the term "Abominable Snowman"
• Charles Howard-Bury, Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921, Edward Arnold, ISBN 1-135-39935-2.
• Bill Tilman (H. W. Tilman), Mount Everest 1938, Appendix B, pp. 127–137, Pilgrim Publishing. ISBN 81-7769-175-9.
• John Angelo 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 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 Himalaya and its people. Hollis and Carter, 1955.
• John Angelo Jackson, Adventure Travels in the Himalaya Chapter 17, Everest and the Elusive Snowman, 1954 updated material, Indus Publishing Company, 2005, ISBN 81-7387-175-2.
• 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
• Daniel Taylor-Ide, Something Hidden Behind the Ranges: A Himalayan Quest, San Francisco (Calif.) : Mercury house, 1999
• Ann E. Bodie, The Exploding Cow Story: Concerning the History of the Yeti Throughout the Ages, New York: St.Martin's Press,1986

Cryptozoology and cryptobotany   Overview Core topics Cryptid · List of cryptids · Homin · Zoology · Botany · Megafauna discovered in modern times · Pseudoscience Cryptozoologists Bernard Heuvelmans · Karl Shuker · Jonathan Downes · Jon-Erik Beckjord · John Bindernagel · Richard Freeman · Loren Coleman · Alexandr Mikhailovych Kondratov · Roy Mackal · Ivan T. Sanderson · Organizations Books and television Animal X · Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World · Beast Legends · Destination Truth · Fortean TV · In Search Of... · Is It Real? · Lost Tapes  · MonsterQuest  · On the Track of Unknown Animals · The X Creatures · Sci Fi Investigates · The Secret Saturdays · Weird Travels   Zoological cryptids Africa Adjule · Agogwe · Bili Ape · Emela-ntouka · Ennedi tiger · Gambo · Grootslang · Inkanyamba · Kasai rex · Kongamato · Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu · Mokele-mbembe · Malawi terror beast · Mamlambo  · Muhuru  · Nandi Bear · Ngoubou · Nguma-monene · Popobawa  · Pygmy elephant · Trunko · Zanzibar Leopard Asia Ahool · Akkorokamui · Almas · Amomongo · Ayia Napa sea monster · Barmanou · Batutut · Bergman's Bear · Brosno dragon · Bukit Timah Monkey Man · Buru · Caspian Tiger · Cat-fox · Devil Bird · Hibagon · Hokkaidō Wolf · Honshū Wolf · Issie · Kappa · Killer badger · Kting Voar · Kusshii · Lake Tianchi Monster · Lake Van Monster · Maltese Tiger · Mongolian Death Worm · Monkey-man of Delhi · Orang Pendek · Phaya Naga  · Pygmy elephant · Qilin · Ropen · Tsuchinoko · Veo · Woolly mammoth · Yeren · Yeti · Australasia- Oceania Amomongo · Blue Mountains panther · Bunyip · Drop Bear · Ebu Gogo · Four Mile Globster · Gippsland phantom cat · Globster · Manaul · Megalania · Moa · Moehau · New Nessie · New Zealand Globster · Queensland Tiger · Siyokoy · Tasmanian Globster · Tasmanian Globster 2 · Thylacine · Thylacoleo · Tikbalang · Waitoreke · Yowie Europe Afanc · Ayia Napa sea monster · Beast of Gévaudan · Bishop-fish · British big cats · Canvey Island Monster · Dahu · Dobhar-chú · Each uisge · Eachy · Elwetritsch · Fear liath · Fish-man of Liérganes · Giglioli's Whale · Hebrides Blob · Jenny Haniver · Kellas Cat · Kraken · Lagarfljóts Worm · Lariosauro · Lindworm · Loch Ness Monster · Morag · Morgawr · Muc-sheilch · Owlman · Sea monk · Sea serpent · Selma · Skvader · Storsjöodjuret · Stronsay Beast · Tatzelwurm · Wolpertinger North America Altamaha-ha · Bear Lake Monster · Beast of Bladenboro · Beast of Bray Road · Beast of Busco · Bermuda Blob · Bermuda Blob 2 · Bermuda Blob 3 · Bessie · Bigfoot · Cadborosaurus willsi · Champ · Chessie · Chupacabra · Dover Demon · Flatwoods monster · Fiji mermaid · Fouke Monster · Goatman · Grassman · The Grinning Man · Hodag · Homo gardarensis · Honey Island Swamp monster · Hoop snake · Huay Chivo · Igopogo · Iliamna Lake Monster · Jackalope · Jersey Devil · Kingstie · Lake Worth Monster · Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp · Loveland frog · Lusca · MacFarlane's Bear · Manipogo · Melon heads · Michigan Dogman · Minnesota Iceman · Momo the Monster  · Montauk Monster · Mothman · Mussie · Nantucket Blob · Newfoundland Blob · Ogopogo · Old Yellow Top · Ozark Howler · Pope Lick Monster · Shunka Warakin · Sidehill gouger · Skunk Ape · St. Augustine Monster · Thunderbird · Trinity Alps giant salamander · Tsul 'Kalu · Turtle Lake Monster · Waheela · Wampus cat South America Ameranthropoides loysi · Andean Wolf · Bloop · Cherufe · Chilean Blob · Chupacabra · Giant anaconda · Mapinguari · Minhocão · Mono Grande · Mylodon · Nahuelito · Peuchen   Botanical cryptids Man-eating tree · Umdhlebi · Vegetable Lamb of Tartary