Buddhist BIGFOOT Back

The scientific field is called cryptozoology. Bigfoot, Yeti (the abominable snowman), Sasquatch, Pendek (jungle yeti)... There has been a recent wave of sightings in Buddhist (and formerly Buddhist) lands: Nepal, Siberia, India, Indonesia, and Tibet. The BBC reports.

"Yeti prints" found near Everest
By Charles Haviland (BBC News), Kathmandu

There have been stories of Yetis in the Himalayas for many years. A US TV presenter says he and his team have found a series of footprints in the Everest region of Nepal resembling descriptions of the mysterious Yeti. The presenter and his colleagues say they are "very excited," although they are not saying they definitely believe it is the mark of the Yeti. Josh Gates and his crew work on a series called Destination Truth, which follows reports of fantastic creatures. The footprints found on Wednesday have renewed Yeti excitement in Nepal. Mr. Gates said they had been searching by torchlight at night-time because, he said, alleged sightings of the yeti had usually taken place at night. They did not see the so-called abominable snowman himself.

Three prints But a Nepalese member of the team spotted three footprints and alerted Mr. Gates, who told the BBC the first print was a "pristine" right paw mark, 33 cm (13 inches) long, with five toes in a wide spread of 25 cm. There was also a heel print and another fainter one. An excited Mr. Gates described the main footprint as anthropomorphic, meaning it had human characteristics. He said he did not believe the prints were man-made or that they came from a known animal such as a bear. But he also said he was not sure he believed in the Yeti, and did not know what to make of it. The team took castings of the three prints which will be examined by scientists in the US.

Scalp claim Asked why there were only three prints, Mr. Gates said the terrain, in a side valley about 2,800 metres (9,000 feet), was mainly rocky. Reports of the mythical Yeti go back hundreds of years, and the creature is sometimes attributed with dangerous powers, sometimes protective ones. One Buddhist monastery near Everest houses what some say is a Yeti skull or scalp; scientists who examined it declared that it was made from antelope skin, but other experts disagreed. In the 1950s the British explorer Eric Shipton took photos of prints in the snow that some are convinced belong to the Yeti.

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Evidence of "jungle yeti" found
By David Green (BBC News Online), Manchester

Adam Davies plans to write a scientific paper on the discovery. Fresh evidence has been found in the jungles of Sumatra supporting claims that a mythical 'jungle yeti' may exist, claim two UK explorers. Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson found footprints which seem to match examples they found three years ago, which were shown to be from a new species of ape. The orang pendek, as it is known, is said by islanders to walk like a man. The pair, from Stockport and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, now plan to write a scientific paper on their discoveries. The new evidence was found in the Bukkantingi area of the island.

The pair found new footprints similar to the one they found in 2001

Mr. Davies and Mr. Sanderson also claim they tracked the creature to within 500 metres but were unable to follow it into dense jungle. Three years earlier, they found hairs and prints which were analysed independently by scientists and shown to be from an unknown species. They have now discovered evidence of the creature's existence in separate parts of the island. Mr. Davies told BBC News Online: "When we arrived in Bukkantingi, we were told by the villagers that they had seen the orang pendek only two days earlier. "They said they had seen it eating soft fruit in farmland on the edge of their village.

The orang pendek is said to have red-brown hair and walk like a man

"We made base camp there and, two days later, one of our Indonesian guides heard it calling. "We set after it and found new prints which we made casts of and which matched the prints which we discovered on our last trip. "The prints had been made that day, our guides told us, and we also heard it calling, but were unable to capture it on film as it was in dense jungle. "But I think we were at least within 500 metres of it." Mr. Davies said the pair now planned to write down their discoveries and send them to a primatologist at Cambridge University who analysed the original prints found in 2001. But he said the habitat of the creature, if it exists, was under threat from illegal logging which had destroyed large areas of jungle since their previous visit.