THE BAND
Enthusiasts capturing the site
The long black strand of hair examined by the
British scientists was found on the bark of cedar
tree in the Kingdom of Bhutan, a small country
on the eastern side of the Himalayas. The tall,
hairy creature is believed by many locals to in-
habit the forests and mountains of Bhutan, where
it is called the Migyur. The British were led to this
particular tree by Sonam Dhendup, the kingdom’s
official Yeti hunter. Locals had found a mysteri-
ous piece of skin in the hollow of the cedar tree,
which they think the creature might have called
home. Carefully examining the area, the British
scientists found fresh footprints just a few hours
old. Inside the tree, they noted claw-like scratch
marks and found several strands of the hair.
Some of the hair was taken back to the UK for
DNA testing. Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human
Genetics at the Oxford Institute of Molecular
Medicine and one of the world’s leading experts
on DNA analysis examined the hair. “We found
some DNA in it,” he said, “but we don’t know
what it is. It’s not a human, not a bear not any-
26thing else we have so far
July been
08 able to identify. It’s
THE BAND
a mystery and I never thought this would end in
a mystery. We have never encountered DNA that
we couldn’t recognize before.”
Several Bhutanese have actually seen the Yeti.
Druk Sherrik, a former member of the country’s
royal guard, told the British expedition, “It was
huge. It must have been nine feet tall. The arms
were enormous and hairy. The face was red with
a nose like a chimpanzee.”
The Yeti has also been captured on video in
the so-called Snow Walker footage. In 1996, two
hikers making their way through the mountain
snows of Nepal captured video (see stills here)
of a hairy, upright walking creature trudging up
the side of a hill. The video has yet to be proved
or disproved.
But the DNA test has proved that there is an
unknown creature out there. What kind of creature
that hair belongs to is unknown, but when one con-
siders it along with the footprints and the eyewit-
ness sightings, the case for a previously unknown
ape or hominid is strengthened. The DNA is likely
to inspire new expeditions to find the Yeti. July 08 27