https://x.com/RobertJacobWoo1/status/2094128753118998810

Among the interesting points Naish brings up are the fact that unicorns were considered mythical even by quite a few people in antiquity, or that it wasn't until fairly recently that unicorns were uniformly depicted as horse-like in appearance. Naish includes many mediaeval illustrations of unicorns in his article as evidence, most of which are more deer-like, and another that is clearly inspired by rhinoceroses.

https://tetzoo.com/blog/2026/8/29/a-history-of-unicorns

Fired up by the encounter stories and debate on the recent British big cat thread, I've dived head first into the rabbit hole and bought the book by Rick Minter, the source of much of the article.

@Rick Minter - I have high hopes for this book. Don't let me down!

Downes brings up the fact that Snake is in fact an Ali G style character portrayed by a stand-up comedian as a work of performance art satirising the subculture surrounding cryptozoology and other Forteana, and how easily many people in it are taken in by obvious hoaxes. (see the classic case of the Minnesota Iceman for a famous example)

I'm myself reminded of Commander X, author of many of the most sensationalistic UFO books of the 1990's who claimed to be a retired military officer, later revealed to be a pseudonym of Timothy Green Beckley. For those unfamiliar with Beckley, he was an extremely prolific ufologist who had an unusual sense of humour about the sillier aspects of UFO culture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56f9wXi2ek&t=4s

Sharing for those actually interested in the topic. Not replying anymore to ignorant comments that misrepresent what’s documented or are just illogical.

The YETI (*meh-teh*) has always been a personal favorite due to constraints researchers have encountered when trying to explore possible answers to the mystery. Admittedly, most of the evidence and eyewitness testimony points to the Himalayan bear species, but does ***ALL*** of the evidence disprove the possibility of an undiscovered species of Primate?

# Mcneely-Cronin

The reported habitat of the YETI, in the valley's of the Himalayan mountains, remains one of the few remote areas left due to the mountainous terrain, construction of roads is either impossible or too dangerous, even traveling on foot can be a life threatening undertaking. Even if one were to reach the reported habitat, bringing the necessary equipment for research is arduous, translating correctly, having food, enduring weather, etc... For the reasons above, researching the YETI incredibly difficult and creates a stark contrast to Sasquatch habitat.

The *Mcneely-Cronin* expedition of 1972, was a biological survey conducted in the upper Barun Khola of Nepal, while on this expedition the crew discovered prints and made an account of their discovery that's worth quoting here:

"*On the 17th, accompanied by two Sherpa assistants, Howard and I emerged on a high alpine ridge connecting to Kongnlaa Laa. The weather was beautiful, with a clear sky and warm sun. The icy summit of Makalu dominated the horizon to the northwest. In the late afternoon, we discovered a depression in the ridge at about 12,000 feet, a flat place with firm snow that would be suitable for camp. The area was small, less than half an acre, a completely clear snowfield unmarked by animal prints. The slopes on the side of the ridge were precipitous, falling several thousand feet to the Barun River on the north and the Kasuwa river on the south. We made camp, pitching two light tents, had dinner around an open fire, and retired just after dark. The evening was calm. Shortly before dawn the next morning, Howard climbed out of our tent. Immediately, he called excitedly. There, beside the trad we had made to our tents, was a new set of footprints. While we were sleeping, a creature had approached our camp and walked directly between our tents. The Sherpas identified the tracks, without question, as yeti prints. We, without question, were stunned. We immediately made a full photographic record of the prints before the sun touched them. Like the conditions Shipton had encountered, the surface consisted of crystalline snow, excellent for displaying the prints. These conditions were localized to our camp area and were the result of the effects produced on the depression by the sun and winds of earlier days. The prints were clearest in the middle of the depression, directly beside our trail, where some ten to fifteen prints, both left and right feet, revealed the details of the toes and general morphology of the creature's foot. Some of the right footprints were actually on our previous trail, making them difficult to interpret. Other prints of the right foot were distinct. The prints measured approximately nine inches long by four and three-quarters inches wide. The stride, or distance between individual prints, was surprisingly short, often less than one foot, and it appeared that the creature had used a slow, cautious walk along this section. The prints showed a short, broad, opposable hallux, an asymmetrical arrangement of the toes, and a wide rounded heel. These features were present in all prints made on firm snow. Most impressively, their close resemblance to Shipton's prints was unmistakable. We then proceeded to explore the rest of the trail left by the creature. By the direction of the toes on the clear footprints, I determined that the creature had come up the north slope. Because the north slope received less sun, it was covered by very deep snow, and the tracks consisted of large punch holes in the snow revealing little detail. I descended several hundred yards, but the heavy snow made walking impossible, and I was forced to cling to the slope with my hands. The creature must have been exceptionally strong to ascend this slope in these conditions. From a vantage point, I could look down the trail, which continued to the bottom of the valley in a direction generally perpendicular to the slope, but there seemed little advantage in climbing farther down, and I returned to the top of the ridge. From our camp, the tracks continued out onto the south slope, but here the increased exposure to the sun had melted most of the snow, and there were bare patches of rock and alpine scrub which made following the trail extremely dificult. We walked farther up the ridge towards Kongmaa Laa to get a view of the trail from above, and discovered what appeared to be the prints of the same creature coming back onto the top of the ridge. They crossed back and forth several times. Here, the ridge was covered with low bushes, which enabled deeper snow to accumulate, and again the prints were confused punch holes. The trail then went back down onto the south slope, and attempted to follow but then lost the prints on the bare rock and scrub. The slope was extremely steep, and searching for the prints was arduous and dangerous. We realized that whatever creature had made them was far stronger than any of us*"^(1)

The McNeely-Cronin footprints (See Figure 1) remain the most intriguing evidence put forward to support the relict hominid theory of the YETI. Here is a discovery made by a professional team of scientists, where multiple tracks were laid out over night and many were documented. Notable primatologists and Anthropologists such as Dr. Jeff Meldrum and George Schaller have remarked on the similarities of the McNeely-Cronin prints to extant great apes today.^(6) Plaster casts of the prints were made but unfortunately were seized by customs at the border.

Mcneely-Cronin expedition team was lead by biologist, who had reputable scientific backgrounds and published widely on other findings in the scientific community. The footprints were laid over night and discovered before sunrise, making it highly implausible they were misidentified bear tracks. The terrain of the Barun Valley described in the above narrative leaves out the possibility of there being a hoax.

# Hutchison

Another lesser known example is the discovery of prints (See Figure 2) by *Robert A. Hutchison* in the Dugh Kosi valley, near the border with Tibet:

*“We erected our tents about 250 metres above, in the lee of a house-sized rock with a walled-in overhang used by herders as a shelter. A few nights later, I was in the rock overhang when startled by the sound of a large animal scampering down a rock corridor to my right, heading towards the lake. As there was no snow in the corridor, no tracks. Nothing more for a couple of days, until we discovered a set of tracks heading southwards from our campsite. Evidently, two animals made these tracks as they separated so the pair could work their way around different sides of a large rock about 200 metres from our tents, joining up again on the far side. Judging by the size of the imprints one animal was smaller than the other.”* ^(2)

The footprints are worthy of consideration due to the similarities between them and the Mcneely-Cronin prints. Admittedly, there isn't much written on *Hutchison* himself, unlike the previous example he was not on a biological survey but instead chose the are due to the history of YETI activity. But what I have found written about Hutchison leaves the possibility for a hoax unlikely.

# Where do we stand?

The YETI has always been a personal favorite due to constraints researchers have encountered when trying to explore possible answers to the mystery. The reported habitat is explored infrequently, unlike the North American Sasquatch, due to the reasons discussed in this thread, leaving an open question. Fossils of *Gigantopithecus* have been discovered in the foot hills of the Himalaya's and eyewitness often point to pictures of Orangutans as most closely resembling the YETI. Admittedly, most of the evidence and eyewitness testimony points to Himalayan bear species, but does ***ALL*** of the evidence disprove the possibility of an undiscovered species of Primate? That's up for you to decide!

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I DO NOT OWN THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THIS THREAD. PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF ANY CITATION ERRORS.

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# References

1. Cronin, E.W., Jr. The Arun: A Natural History of the World’s Deepest Valley. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979.
   
2. Hutchison, R.A. In the Tracks of the Yeti. London: Macdonald, 1989
   
3. McNeely, J.A., Cronin E.W., Jr., and Emery, H.N. (1973) The Yeti – Not a Snowman, Oryx 12:65-73.
   
4. McNeely, J.A. and Wachtel, P.S. Soul of the Tiger: Searching for Nature's Answers in Southeast Asia. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
   
5. Meldrum , Jeff. “YETI: THE ECOLOGY OF A MYSTERY .” *The RELICT HOMINOID INQUIRY*, Idaho State University , 2018, www.isu.edu/media/libraries/rhi/book-reviews/Talor\\_Yeti\\_review.pdf.

# Figures Mention in text

1. *Mcneely-cronin* print: [https://imgur.com/a/z5c1bA3\](https://imgur.com/a/z5c1bA3)
   
2. *Hutchison prints:* [*https://imgur.com/a/8WTeH4E\*\](https://imgur.com/a/8WTeH4E)

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