The yeti or Meh-Teh is a cryptid. It is incorrectly titled as the Abominable Snowman by the western press and as a result has been over dramatized as a large primate-like creature supposedly living in the Himalayas. The Western name is derived from the Tibetan yeh-teh (transliterated: gYa' dred), "little man-like animal"; it is a false cognate with Old English geottan (or yettin in Modern English), an antiquated word for an orc or troll.
Most mainstream scientists and experts consider current evidence of the yeti's existence to be weak and better explained as hoax, legend, or misidentification of known species. Nevertheless, certain physical tool face evidence, such as tracks and nests, have suggested to some that yeti is an unknown primate, a remnant hominid, or a type of bear, and the yeti remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology.
The term "Abominable Snowman" was popularized by the press after Henry Newman, a reporter, related a mistranslation of a Tibetan name Metoh-Kangmi for the yeti, "Kangmi" meaning "Man of the Snow" and Metoh meaning "dirty", or "filthy". Migoi or Mi-go (pronounced Mey-Goo) is another name for such a creature, other names are Mirka, Kang Admi, and eventually Meh-Teh which is the true name given to the snowman by the Sherpas. Other animals known to Tibetans which could have been construed as the yeti are the "Chu-Teh", a monkey-like animal and the "Dzu-Teh" which is the Himalayan Red Bear.
The term yeti is often used to describe a number of very different reported creatures:
- A large ape-like biped (that some suggest could be Gigantopithecus blacki)
- Human-sized bipedal apes (the Almas and the Chinese wildman)
- Dwarf-like creatures (such as the Orang Pendek).
The term is also often used to refer to reported ape-like creatures that fit any of these descriptions: for example, the fear liath may be referred to as the "Scottish yeti". They are known throughout the world with various different names and description - most notably in the middle-east as "Jobran", which means "the Beast" in Urdu.
In 1832, Journal of the Asiatic society of Bengal published the account of B. H. Hodgson, who wrote that while trekking in northern Nepal, his native guides spotted a tall, bipedal creature covered with long dark hair, then fled in fear. Hodgson did not see the creature, but concluded it was an orangutan.
Perhaps the first formal record of reported yeti footprints was in 1889's Among the Himalayas, by L.A. Waddell. Waddell reports his native guides described the large apelike creature that left the prints; he concluded the prints were a bear's. Waddell heard stories of bipedal, apelike creatures, but wrote that of the many witnesses he questioned, none "could ever give me an authentic case. On the most superficial investigation it always resolved into something that somebody had heard of." [1]
Early 20th century
The frequency of reports increased in the early 20th century, when Westerners began making determined attempts to climb the many mountains in the area and sometimes reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks [2].
Also notable was Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury, inadvertently responsible for coining the term "Abominable Snowman." While leading "The Everest Reconnaisance" group on the Lhakpa La in the Everest region in 1921, Howard-Bury's expedition discovered many footprints at about 20,000 feet in altitude. Howard-Bury related his account to a reporter, Mr Henry Newman, for the Calcutta Statesman, however, the reporter mistranslated the word "Metoh" from "Metoh Kangmi", the words the Sherpa's had used - "Metoh" meaning "dirty", "filthy" or "disgusting" and "Kangmi" meaning "Man of the Snow". It was the words "dirty", "filthy" or "disgusting" which were mistranslated into "Abominable" in "Abominable Snowman".
In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a photographer (and, incidentally, a member of the Royal Geographical Society) saw a creature at about 15,000 feet in altitude, near Zemu Glacier. Tombazi later wrote that he observed the creature from about 200 or 300 yards' distance, for about one 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 what they took to be 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.... The prints were undoubtedly those of a biped."
In 1942, after escaping from a Siberian prison, Sławomir Rawicz and his companions reported seeing two large, apelike creatures while crossing the Himalayas. They claim to have observed the creatures for several hours from a distance of about 100 metre (300 feet). However, critics have questioned the accuracy (and even the reality) of Rawicz's escape narrative.
Late 20th century
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 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level. These photos have been subject to intense study and debate: Some argue they are the best evidence of Yeti's reality; others disagree, and think the prints are a mundane creature's, distorted and enlarged by the melting snow.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reported seeing large footprints while scaling Mount Everest. Hillary would later discount yeti reports as unreliable.
During the Daily Mail Abominable Snowman Expedition of 1954, the largest search of its kind, the mountaineering leader John Angelo Jackson], made the first trek from Everest to Kangchenjunga and in the process photographed symbolic paintings of the yeti at Thyangboche Gompa (see References section). Jackson tracked and also photographed many footprints in the snow, many of which were identifiable; however, there were many large footprints which could not be identified. The flattened footprint-like indentations were attributed to erosion and subsequent widening of the original footprint by wind and particle action.
Beginning in 1957, Tom Slick, an American who had made a fortune in oil] funded a few missions to investigate yeti reports. In 1959, feces reportedly from a yeti were collected by Slick's expedition. Analysis found a parasite but could not classify it. Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that "Since each animal has its own parasites, this indicated that the host animal is equally an unknown animal."
In 1959, actor Jimmy Stewart, while visiting India, reportedly smuggled the remains of a supposed yeti, the so-called Pangboche Hand, by hiding them in his luggage when he flew from India to London. [3]
In 1960, Sir Edmund Hillary mounted an expedition to collect and evaluate evidence for the yeti and sent a yeti scalp from the Khumjung monastery to the West for testing. The results indicated that the scalp had been manufactured from the skin of the serow, a goat-like Himalayan antelope. But some disagreed with this analysis. Shackley said they "pointed out that 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 says he saw a creature while scaling Annapurna. While scouting for a campsite, Whillans heard some odd cries. His sherpa guide told him the sound was a yeti's call. That night, reported Whillans, he saw a dark shape moving near his camp. The next day, Whillans observed a few human like footprints in the snow, and that evening, he asserted that with binoculars, he watched a bipedal, ape-like creature for about 20 minutes as it apparently searched for food not far from his camp.
Modern reports
Yeti accounts have perhaps received less attention in recent decades, but as recently as 1998, Craig Calonica reported seeing two apelike, bipedal creatures on Mount Everest.
Analyses
Many cryptozoologists, after careful examinations of eye-witness reports and statistical evidence, have concluded that yeti reports are misidentification of mundane creatures. Well-financed expeditions have failed to turn up any positive evidence of its existence, although a sample of hair retrieved from one expedition was reportedly confirmed as belonging to an unknown ape.
Enthusiasts speculate that these reported creatures could be present-day specimens of the extinct giant ape Gigantopithecus, as the only evidence (other than teeth) recovered from Gigantopithecus (its jawbone) indicates a skull rested upon a vertical spinal column (as in hominines and other bipedal apes such as Oreopithecus). However, while the yeti is usually described as a bipedal, most scientists feel that Gigantopithicus was probably quadrupedal, and so massive that unless it evolved specifically as a bipedal ape (like Oreopithecus and the hominids) upright walking would have been even more difficult for the now extinct primate than it is for its extant quadrupedal relative, the orangutan. Without evidence to support it, this suggestion must be regarded as highly speculative.
Although there is no firm evidence to support yeti reports, some have noted the Himalayas are remote and sparsely populated, and that there is perhaps more room for the yeti's actuality than with bigfoot in North America.
In 1997, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner claimed to have come face to face with a yeti. He has since written a book, My Quest for the Yeti, and also claims to have actually killed one. According to Messner, the yeti is actually the endangered Himalayan Brown Bear, Ursus arctos, that can walk upright or on all fours.
In 2003, Japanese mountaineer, Makoto Nebuka, published the results of his 12-year linguistic study and postulated that the word "yeti" is actually a regional dialect term for "bear". The ethnic Tibetans fear and worship the bear (as do many primitive peoples) as a supernatural being.
Recently, Henry Gee, editor of the journal Nature], wrote that "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" [4].
The yeti in popular culture
The yeti has become a cultural icon, appearing in movies, books and video games. Mainly this is in the abominable snowman style, but occasionally as comic relief.
References
- John A. Jackson, "More than Mountains", Chapter 10 & 11, "Prelude to the Snowman Expedition & The Snowman Expedition", George Harrap & Co, 1954
- John A. Jackson, Adventure Travels in the Himalaya Chapter 17, "Everest and the Elusive Snowman", 1954 updated material, Indus Publishing Company, 2005.
- Jerome Clark, "Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena", Visible Ink Press, 1993.
- Bernard Heuvelmans, "On the Track of Unknown Animals", Hill and Wang, 1958
- Reinhold Messner, "My Quest for the Yeti : Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery", New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000, ISBN 0312203942
- Gardner Soule, "Trail of the Abominable Snowman", New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966