The Indian Army claims its mountaineers have sighted giant footprints of the mythical beast "Yeti". Late Monday night, the army's additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI) said its mountain expedition team had made the sighting near the Makalu base camp in eastern Nepal.
The official Twitter handle of the ADGPI also posted photographs of the footprints. The sightings were made on April on April 09, the army said. The "Yeti's" footsteps measured 2.6 feet, the ADGPI tweet said. A footstep is a distance between one footprint and the next during a normal walk. The average length of the footstep of an adult male human being is said to be around 2.5 feet. The tweet claimed that "Yeti" had been sighted at the Makalu-Barun National Park in the past, too.
For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast 'Yeti' measuring 32x15 inches close to Makalu Base Camp on 09 April 2019. This elusive snowman has only been sighted at Makalu-Barun National Park in the past. pic.twitter.com/AMD4MYIgV7 — ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) April 29, 2019
For decades, the mysterious giant snowman has fired the imagination of adventurers and mountaineers venturing into the Himalayan slopes. In Nepali folklore the Yeti-dubbed the "Abominable Snowman" in the West-is a furry ape-like creature taller than an average human, which inhabits the Himalayas and other regions. Their existence has never been proven, but they have captured the imagination of many.
While the latest claim has aroused excitement among Yeti-lovers on social media, it is at odds with scientific findings. A 2017 study on the Himalayan "Yeti" used mitochondrial DNA sequencing to examine 24 "Yeti" samples including hair, bone, skin, and feces. Charlotte Lindqvist and her team discovered that some of the items came from a Himalayan brown bear and a black bear. One tooth was from an animal in the dog family. The paw of the "Yeti" kept in a local monastery came from a black bear. Another bone kept as a monastic relic was from a Tibetan brown bear. Other investigations reached similar conclusions. A study in 2014 found 30 hair samples believed to come from Yetis had actually originated from a variety of beasts such as a Paleolithic polar bear, other types of bear and dogs.
The Yeti became part of local traditions about 350 years ago when a holy man named Sangwa Dorje took up residence in a cave near the remote village of Pangboche, which had a clear view of Everest. According to local folklore, he was said to have been aided by Yetis and to have kept relics from the beasts. Yeti fever took off in the West after British explorer Eric Shipton snapped a picture west of Mount Everest in 1951 of what appeared to be a large primate-like footprint.
