‘Yeti’ footprints discovered by Indian army mountaineers in Nepal’s snow-capped Himalayas

April 30, 2019

Reuters : Mountaineers from the Indian army on an expedition in Nepal have found mysterious footprints in the snow that they claim belong to the yeti, or the abominable snowman, the military has said.

Largely regarded by the scientific community as a myth, the yeti is part of Nepali folklore and is said to live high in the snow-capped Himalayas.

In a tweet, the Indian army said it had seen footprints measuring 81 by 38 centimetres close to a camp near Mount Makalu on April 9.

“For the first time, an #IndianArmy Mountaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast ‘Yeti’,” it said in the tweet, not explaining how a mythical beast could leave footprints.

Located on the border between Nepal and China, Makalu is among the highest mountains in the world and stands near the Makalu-Barun valley, a remote wilderness that has also been surveyed by researchers hunting for the yeti.

For the first time, an #IndianArmy Moutaineering Expedition Team has sited Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast ‘Yeti’ measuring 32×15 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

Tales of a wild hairy beast roaming the Himalayas have captured the imagination of climbers in Nepal since the 1920s, prompting many, including Sir Edmund Hillary, to go looking for the creature.

In 2008, Japanese climbers returning from a mountain in western Nepal told Reuters they had seen footprints, which they thought belonged to the yeti.

But they did not manage to find any evidence the creature exists. Scientists have found little evidence of the yeti’s existence at all.

In 2017, a group of international researchers studied multiple purported yeti samples collected from across the Himalayan region and concluded they belonged to bears.

In 2008, two men in the US said they had found the remains of a half-man, half-ape, which was eventually revealed to be a rubber gorilla suit.