THE BAND
mammal. Research is still on to locate the
In 1990, an Apatani man was returning
home with his herd of goats and it was
almost dark. He was quite brave to walk
the jungle path late in the evening, but that
day, he heard heavy sounds of footsteps
following him closely. All of a sudden a
huge ape-like creature appeared from be-
hind and disappeared again into the dark.
away from him as he looked for
Again, in July 2005, a lady, who was
sleeping with her child in a village in Garo
Hills in Meghalaya, was awoken by some
peculiar scratching sounds outside her
thatched hut sometime at night. Later, a
big hairy creature entered her house. She
was both terrified and calm, and saw the
creature in the full light of the firewood,
which was burning till then. The creature
stamped out the fire and disappeared into
the darkness without harming the lady in
any way.
Thus goes the story of Mande Bu-
rung – a huge hairy ape like creature that
resembles Sasquatch in North America,
Yowie in Australia, Yeti in Nepal and
Arunachal Pradesh. Mande Burung, whose
literal meaning is Bigfoot has its share of
dedicated followers across the globe. The
creature, which is supposed to be more
than eight feet tall, is said to have been
first sighted in 1997 and the last time at
Rongrigittim in South Garo Hills in July
2005, before making a reappearance in
May, 2007. But the most interesting report
came in 1999, when a man, while passing
through a forest was captured by such a
mammal and breastfed forcibly. This was
reported on January 18, 1999 and as per
his account “the milk was sour with a mix-
ture of bitterness.”
Reports of such huge creatures ap-
pearing every now and then have put the
administration and also the local people
on tenterhooks. Lack of scientific studies
and non-availability of foolproof evidence
of the presence of such creatures have en-
couraged A’chik Tourism Society (ATS), a
local NGO, to initiate efforts to ascertain
whether the story about ‘Mande Burung’
is a myth or reality?
In search of this illusive creature, a
group of young enthusiasts started making
regular visits to the deep dark jungles of
Garo Hills in Meghalaya. It usually makes
a visit on the information received from
the local people on the sighting of this
mammal.
After such reports of sightings, an-
other set of reports started coming in. This
time it is the footprints and scratch marks
supposedly left behind by this gigantic
COVER STORY
existence of those scratch marks and foot- firewood in a forested area, and
prints. vanished into the undergrowth,
Repeated claims by terrified villag- he said.
ers about Bigfoot roaming the jungles in Claims to have sighted
the Garo hills bordering Bangladesh also such bigfoot creatures are treat-
prompted the authorities to order an inves- ed skeptically by scientists be-
tigation. cause of lack of solid physical
A team of wildlife officials and other proof, but there are scientists
experts were asked to conduct a study to and researchers who believe
find out if there is any truth in the locals’ they could exist.
claims about these hairy giants. The Achik Tourism society,
A local farmer, Wallen Sangma, was has been trying to verify the
once quoted as saying that he had seen an creature’s existence for the past
entire family of the creatures — possibly 10 years, photographing foot-
a lowland relative of the Himalayan Yeti, prints reportedly 13 to 15 inches
or a cousin of the North American Bigfoot (33 to 38 centimeters) long, and
and Sasquatch, or Australia’s Yowie. ‘nests’ reported by locals.
Their heads looked as if they were The ATS, which had been
wearing caps, and their color was black- in search for this creature has
ish-brown. The four ‘monsters’ were came out with some evidences on the mat- Scratch mark
about 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters) ter. They have collected some samples
of hair, which Bigfoot. The most common description
is the only of mande burung goes like this: Accord-
biological evi- ing to its report, it is big, an ape-like crea-
dence that they ture with thick hair covering its entire
have, other than body. The colour of the hair is reported to
some imprints, be black or blackish brown. It has some
footprints and kind of foul odour/smell emanating from
scratch marks the body. It has a footprint/pug-mark size
on tree trunks. from 13 inches to 15 inches in length. It
The hair has may be around 7’5” to 9’ tall. It may weigh
been sent for around 300 kgs. It is noted to be a herbivo-
DNA and foren- rous creature that eats banana tubes, tree
sic test. roots, fruits, berries, barks of some trees,
The ATS like Sawe trees and is also reported to eat
has also come crabs. It walks on two legs (biped). As
up with a very reported in 2002 sighting, it sleeps in a
comprehensive ‘nest’ built on open ground. According to
report and de- the 2005 sighting, it is shy and is basically
scriptions of harmless.
mande burung There have been many incidents re-
or the so called ported on this illusive creature. The 1997
Measuring the fooprint
Etymology
The name Yeti is derived from the Tibetan yeh-the, a com- pas’ in 1937. Kang Admi means Snow Man and Jo-bran the
pound of words yeh meaning “rocky” or “rocky place” and ti, Man-beast.
te or the, which translates as “bear”.
Other terms used by Himalayan peoples do not translate History of Yeti sightings
exactly the same, but refer to legendary and indigenous wild-
life. Jo-bran, Kang Admi, Mirka, Migoi, Dzu-teh, Meh-teh all The appellation “Abominable Snowman” was not coined until
translate as “man-bear”. 1921, the same year Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Howard-Bury
Dzu-teh – ‘dzu’ translates as “cattle” and the full meaning led the Royal Geographical Society’s “Everest Reconnais-
translates as “cattle bear” and is the Himalayan Red Bear. sance Expedition”, which he chronicled in Mount Everest The
Migoi or Mi-go (pronounced mey-goo) translates as “Wild Reconnaissance, 1921. In the book, Howard-Bury includes an
Man”. account of crossing the “Lhakpa-la” at 21,000 feet (6400 me-
Mirka is another name for “wild-man”, however as local ter) where he found footprints that he believed “were probably
legend has it “anyone who sees one dies or is killed”. The lat- caused by a large ‘loping’ gray wolf, which in the soft snow
ter is taken from a written statement by Frank Smythe’s ‘Sher- 23
formed double tracks ratherJuly
like08a those of a barefooted