YETI nother explanation?

British scientist 'solves' mystery of Himalayan yetis - BBC News

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Research by a British scientist has concluded that the legendary Himalayan yeti may in fact be a sub-species of brown bear.

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DNA tests on hair samples carried out by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes found that they matched those from an ancient polar bear.

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He subjected the hairs to the most advanced tests available.

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He says the most likely explanation for the myth is that the animal is a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.

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Prof Sykes told the BBC that there may be a real biological animal behind the yeti myth.

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Suspected yeti footprints - such as these in Nepal - are regularly photographed

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Prof Sykes conducted the DNA tests on hairs from two unidentified animals, one from Ladakh - in northern India on the west of the Himalayas - and the other from Bhutan, 1,285km (800 miles) further east.

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The results were then compared with the genomes of other animals that are stored on a database of all published DNA sequences.

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Prof Sykes found that he had a 100% match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway, that dates back to between 40,000 and 120,000 years ago - a time when the polar bear and closely related brown bear were separating as different species.

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The species are closely related and are known to interbreed where their territories overlap.

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Interesting ...Bears do tend to be solitary, and brown bears will frequently avoid humans (why carrying a noisemaker like a can with stones in that rattles as you walk when backpacking can keep them away).Enjoy

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