Does the abominable snowman exist?

Legend has it that a huge, hairy man-like creature lives in the high frozen wastes of the Himalayan mountains. The native Tibetans called it the Yeti, and many of them claim to have seen it. It is even thought by some people to be a sort of ‘missing link’ between man and the apes.

Evidence? In one of the temples in Nepal there is an object reputed to be a Yeti scalp, although it is more likely to be just the skin of some smaller mammal.

Some years ago, a group of European mountaineers on an expedition to Mount Everett found a huge footprint outside their camp one morning. They even took a photograph of it, with an ice-pick alongside for comparison. It was very large, and unlike any footprint seen before.

There was immediate speculation that this was a Yeti footprint, but, unless it was a hoax, it is most likely to have been made by a large bear. Although no known bear is capable of making a print of the size discovered, it is possible that the snow thawed around the edge of the print, making it appear larger than it was initially. No proof so far, no one has been able to prove the existence of a Yeti by either capturing one or taking a conclusive photograph. In the inhospitable landscape of the Himalayas, it might be possible for such a creature to live practically undetected, since few people would consider seriously mounting an expedition to explore such dangerous terrain for something that may not even exist.

Several years ago great excitement was generated when a ‘missing-link’ creature, which had been pestering local girls, was captured near a remote village in China. Scientists who traveled to the village to try to identify this creature found it to be a monkey!