Yeti Foot Found
Is this the foot of the yeti? Siberian scientists say they have a discovery on their hands which raises the possibility that the local legend of the yeti - the abominable snowman - is more than mere fiction.
According to Russian TV, the well-preserved furry limb of a mystery
creature was found some 3,500 meters up in the permafrost of the Altay
mountains, in Russia's remote Siberia region.
"I turned the limb over and examined the sole of the foot, and I thought
it looked unusual," Sergey Semenov, the mountain-climber who made the find,
said.
"So I decided to bring it back with me."
Scientific tests and X-rays show that the bones are several thousand years
old, but attempts to identify the creature they belonged to remain
inconclusive.
It looks very human, there are many similarities
Yuriy Malofeyev, the Russian association of veterinary anatomists
Local opinion on the find, described as "surprisingly well-preserved", is
divided.
There is a long tradition of alleged sightings in the area of what might -
or might not - be the abominable snowman.
Size 36
Local people say the creature must have walked on snow, because the sole
of the foot is furry.
X-ray tests remain inconclusive.
They have already labeled the discovery as the foot of the yeti.
But veterinary scientists and academics at the local animal research
institute and agragrian university tend towards a more rational
explanation.
"It looks very human," Yuriy Malofeyev, vice-president of the Russian
association of veterinary anatomists, told the TV after examining the
X-rays.
"There are many similarities," he said.
That view appears to be supported by the fact that the length of the foot
is about 24 centimeter - normal for a human being.
"A size 36 shoe would fit him just fine," the TV concluded.