'Yeti hair' sent to lab for DNA tests

From correspondents in London

A BRITISH scientist is anxiously awaiting the results of DNA tests on hair claimed to be from a yeti after initial examinations showed it had human and ape-like characteristics.

Ian Redmond, a biologist and expert in ape conservation, said the hairs found in the Indian jungle resembled samples collected by the conqueror of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, in the 1950s.

"Under the microscope, they look slightly human, slightly like an orang-utan and slightly like the hairs brought back by Edmund Hillary," Dr Redmond said.

"These hairs remain an enigma. They could be a new species, but the DNA tests will hopefully tell us more."

The hairs were brought back from India this year by BBC journalist Alastair Lawson, who contacted Dr Redmond and was put in touch with a team at Oxford Brookes University in south central England.

Lawson was given the hairs by yeti believer Dipu Marak, who retrieved them them in dense jungle in the Meghalaya state of India after a forester allegedly spotted the creature on three consecutive days in 2003.

Mr Marak believes the hairs come from an ape-like Indian version of the fabled yeti, or abominable snowman, called mande barung, which he believes stands about 3m tall.

Dr Redmond and scientists from Oxford Brookes examined the hairs last Thursday under powerful microscopes, comparing them with samples taken from an Asiatic black bear, yaks, orang utangs and gorillas at Oxford's Natural History Museum and even a hair from Dr Redmond's beard.

"The hairs are complete with the cuticle, and between 3.3cm and 4.4cm long and thick and wiry and curved," Dr Redmond said.

"At one point we thought they looked like they came from a wild boar. That was quite a tense moment, but when we got a sample from the museum it turned out they were quite different."

Dr Redmond also contacted the English laboratory that analysed the hairs brought back by Hillary in the 1950s from his Everest expedition and found they were similar in appearance.

While the microscope tests were inconclusive, the hairs are now undergoing DNA tests in separate laboratories in Oxford and Cardiff.

Dr Redmond admitted his excitement at a potential scientific breakthrough was tinged with fear.

"My concern is that if we do find something unusual, it will be from a very small population of animals and I would want to talk to the State Government and Indian Government so they are not inundated with people trying to catch one for a museum.

"I want us to approach this in a 21st century and not a 19th century way."


Reprinted from the Sun

Yeti Hairs DNA Test: Update

UK experts optimistic about 'yeti' hairs

British experts say tests on hairs claimed to come from a yeti in an Indian jungle show they bear "a startling resemblance" to those brought back from the Himalayas by famed New Zealand adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary nearly half a century ago.


"The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a yeti might possibly exist, because they are tangible," ape expert Ian Redmond, who is co-ordinating the research, told The Independent in London.

The hairs had the same cuticle pattern as hairs brought back to Britain by the late Sir Edmund and donated to the Natural History Museum, he claimed.

"We are very excited about the preliminary results, although more tests need to be done."

The two short hairs - 33mm and 44mm long - were picked up in thick forest in the Garo hills in the mountains of northeast India five years ago after a forester reported seeing a yeti - locally known as mande barung, or "forest man".

Sir Edmund led an expedition at much higher altitudes in Nepal in 1960, and investigated reports of yeti footprints on the Ripimu Glacier at the head of the Rolwaling Valley.

But hidden microphones and cameras enmeshed in trip wires failed to capture a Nepalese yeti's likeness - or record its famous high-pitched whistle - and the Hillary team said that "yeti" footprints they had found were the tracks of a relatively small animal which had melted out in the sun.

Sir Edmund borrowed a yeti scalp from Khumjung Gompa, a Sherpa temple, to take to America and Europe to be looked at by scientists who eventually said the scalp had been made from the hide of the serow antelope - probably intended as a ceremonial hat but gradually acquiring the status of an actual scalp.

A "yeti skin" was identified as a blue bear.

The scalp might not have been the real thing, but one of its guardians, village elder Khunjo Chumbi won a debate with Professor J Millot of the Museum of Man in Paris, who suggested that yetis did not exist.

"In Nepal we have neither giraffes nor kangaroos so we know nothing about them. In France, there are no yetis, so I sympathise with your ignorance," Khunjo told him.

Scientists To Test 'Yeti Hairs'

Hair strands thought to be from a yeti-like creature living in India are to be tested in Oxfordshire.

Scientists at Oxford Brookes University will study the sample, which was found in the state of Meghalaya.

They will see if the strands match a known animal. To date there has been no conclusive proof yetis exist.

The hair was found and handed to BBC reporter Alastair Lawson during an expedition to try and find the animal after a number of reported sightings.

He told BBC Oxford: "The region was thick with jungle and very hot, an unlikely country you might say to find a yeti.

"But the tribal people who live there claim to have seen fossilised footprints of the creature which could have existed in prehistoric times.

"Then one of the locals said he once saw a yeti and afterwards gathered hair which he thinks might be from the creature.
Yeti hairs owned by Dipu Marak
Scientists will study hairs collected in India

"It would have taken a long time to test in India due to bureaucracy, so I decided to bring it to England."

Scientists at Oxford will perform a microscopic analysis on Thursday before it is taken to Bristol where a DNA test will be performed.

The little known Indian version of the legendary ape-like creature is called mande barung - or forest man - and is reputed to live in the remote West Garo hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

Lawson was invited to the region to hear evidence of the existence of a black and grey ape-like animal, which stands about 3m (nearly 10ft) tall.

Now he hopes his quest will end with a positive outcome.

"I have to admit I will be a a little bit disappointed if the hair turns out to be from a yak or a cat, but we'll see," he added.

Reposted from BBC america

More Inconclusive DNA Tests

DNA tests are being carried out in the UK on what is claimed to by 'yeti hairs' from India.

The hairs were collected by a yeti believer in a dense Indian jungle where the yeti (also known as Bigfoot, abominable snow man and forestman) had been spotted three days in a row.

Experts at Oxford Brookes University tested the hair and say it is not from any of the 'obvious' animals and it could belong to a currently unknown species of primate.

The hairs will now be sent to separate labs for DNA analysis.

Mr Redmond from primatology department at the Oxford university also says the hairs bear a "startling resemblance" to those collected by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary.
Some people claim to have seen the a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about 3m (nearly 10ft) tall in the West, South and East Garo hills in Meghalaya, India.

From sighting it is estimated the creature weighs about 300kg and lives on fruit, roots and tree bark.