British scientists have done DNA testing on hair found on a
tree in Bhutan which may be hair from a Yeti, and have not
been able to match it to any known animal. The findings raise
the possibility that the hair sample belongs to an as yet
undiscovered species.
In Bhutan, an expedition team led by a Yeti hunter searched
for the creature in a forest in the eastern part of the
country, where the leader was convinced a Yeti was at
large. ?He told us that he had found evidence of the Yeti in
the hollow of a cedar tree,? said Rob McCall, a zoologist who
was on the expedition. McCall?s team removed strands of hair
from the tree and took them to the U.K. for DNA analysis.
?We found some DNA in it, but we don?t know what it is,? said
Bryan Sykes of the Oxford Institute of Molecular Medicine,
one of the world?s leading experts on DNA analysis. ?It?s not a
human, not a bear or anything else we have so far been able
to identify. It?s a mystery and I never thought this would end
in a mystery. We have never encountered DNA that we
couldn?t recognize before.?
Catherine Cooke, former director of the Mind/Science
Foundation and neice of famed Yeti researcher Tom Slick, is
leading an expedition to Nepal starting on April 10, 2001, in
search of the Yeti. The expedition will be using specialized
low-light cameras and sensing equipment in an effort to
locate the unknown animal, and will be making exculsive
reports to Unknowncountry.com and Dreamland.
The image of the Yeti used in this story was created by artist
Robert Bateman, for more about his work,
click here.
For more information, click here.
