[eerie music] NARRATOR: It is a
terrifying beast-- The Sherpas talk about sounds. They talk about screams. NARRATOR: --that
is seen by few-- --and feared by all. This monster is said to
hunt yak and other animals in the high mountains. There have been reports of
attacking yaks, attacking yak herdspeople. NARRATOR: This legendary
beast may have stalked these mountains for centuries. If it was just mythology,
there wouldn't be tracks. NARRATOR: Now, "MonsterQuest"
embarks on an expedition-- in search of one of history's
most infamous creatures-- Adam? ADAM DAVIES: Yeah. Can you come and have
a look at this, please? NARRATOR: --the
Abominable Snowman. MAN: If you fall, you die. Bipedal prints
cutting across the snow. Mr. Yagihara, I can see prints. NARRATOR: Witnesses around the
world report seeing monsters. Are they real or imaginary? Science searches for
answers on "MonsterQuest." [eerie music] Nepal-- 57,000 square miles. It is a country roughly
the size of Iowa. This small country is known for
its mysterious and inaccessible mountain ranges. The Himalayas are called
the Rooftop of the World, boasting eight of the highest
and most deadly mountain peaks on Earth. Its beauty is both
enticing and foreboding. Some of the planet's
deadliest predators, including the snow leopard
and the Himalayan bear, stalk this area. But the most frightening
killer in the region has been a mystery
for centuries. It was totally hair-covered,
except for the face which was very dark, human like. Said to be like a great
ape or a man-like monster. It's covered in
hair, usually said to be about anywhere from five
feet tall to eight feet tall. Huge, bipedal, so it
walks on two legs, hairy, ape-like creature. Accounts talk about the
very tall, gray, thick set Abominable Snowman. NARRATOR: Eyewitnesses
describe a muscular creature standing about
eight feet in height and weighing nearly 600 pounds. The creature has the strength
to kill a yak with one strike. The beast is covered
in gray or dark hair and is said to call out
with blood-curdling screams. The Abominable Snowman is
known to natives of Nepal as the Yeti. High in the Himalayas,
a young Sherpa was tending a herd of yaks
when she sensed something was watching her. The beast struck as the
girl watched over the herd. They struggled, and the
girl was savagely assaulted. When the girl came to, she
found that the creature had killed five of the yaks
by breaking their necks. The locals have long reported
seeing a monster that can kill an animal with a single blow. Western explorers have
come to know them as well. Some, like Reinhold
Messner, perhaps the most accomplished climber in
history, are skeptical and say that the Tibetan
bear is to blame. But newly discovered footprints
are unlike any local bear species and suggest an unknown
killer stalks these mountains. The "MonsterQuest" science
team will analyze these latest tracks and compare them
to the tracks found during an expedition in 1951
and another footprint found in 1957, both believed
to be the tracks of the Abominable Snowman. Meanwhile, the "MonsterQuest"
expedition team will venture into
the high Himalayas to hunt for the killer. This is probably
one of the most remote and hostile
environments on Earth. NARRATOR: The expedition will
be led by animal tracker Adam Davies. Davies, who has explored
some of the most remote areas of the world, knows
the risks in searching for this ferocious beast. It's extremely dangerous
in these mountains. There's potentials of avalanches
and altitude sickness. It's severe just to
even get up here. NARRATOR: He's joined by Dr.
Ian Redmond, one of the world's leading experts on apes
and mountain gorillas. And if we do establish
that the Yeti is for real and can look at some
either DNA or bones to compare it with
known species, we'll know where in that
family tree it lives. But I would see it as another
branch of the primate family tree, and probably a branch
that is quite close to our own, from all the descriptions of it. NARRATOR: Redmond will be
searching the low-lying valleys that may hold a source
of food for the creature. My hunch is that the Yeti
doesn't spend all his time up in the snow. I think he sometimes goes
through the snow fields but probably spends more time
just below the snow line where there's more vegetation
and more animals. NARRATOR: The team will ascend
to a height of 15,000 feet to the snowfield at
the mountain's base, where the most recent
tracks were found. Their target is Mount
Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest peak in the world. It is located 144
miles from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. After the hour and 20
minute helicopter trip, the team arrives in
the small village at the base of the mountain. MICK PAUL: Pretty exciting, huh? Having this wall,
wall of people, looking at you as you're
coming in the chopper was just undescribable. I thought we were landing
in a remote little paddock and we were going
to be on our own. But for all the townspeople
to come out and greet us was sensational. NARRATOR: From here, they
will ascend to Zugapani and continue on to 12,000
feet before they reach their destination, a camp
at almost 15,000 feet. The team is especially
interested in this camp because it is here where
suspected Abominable Snowman tracks were
photographed in 2008. Well, we're here. We're now on our own. NARRATOR: The expedition
will include some 30 people. The majority will be porters
carrying the many supplies necessary for the expedition. The team includes a guide
who found the tracks in 2008. INTERPRETER: I hope to find
another Yeti like the one I saw before. I'm very excited to
look for the Yeti. We need to find out exactly
where we're going now. OK. NARRATOR: The team plans
the route of their ascent. [non-english speech] The ridge, Konabon, is
where you got the prints. NARRATOR: They will
conduct aerial surveillance of the location using a thermal
camera carried by a helium balloon. The sphere and the camera
are 150 meters above the reach. NARRATOR: The thermal imaging
camera will give the team a bird's eye view to monitor the
ridge for any animal activity. ADAM DAVIES: One of the
most exciting things about this expedition
is that as well as people's great expertise,
we're combining cutting edge technology--
for example balloons, thermal imaging
cameras, and expertise in tracking and
understanding animals. When you combine
all three together, you've got a great potential
for proving the existence once and for all. Questions-- has there been any
recent sightings of the Yeti by any of the villagers
or anybody else-- So how big was the print? Is it bigger than my foot? ADAM DAVIES: Right, so it's big. And where did they see that? ADAM DAVIES: So they've seen the
footprints in exactly the place where we're going. OK, we haven't
got much time now. We're going to run
out of daylight. It's going to take us hours
to get down to the area where we need to come. Let's just get off and go, OK? OK. [interposing voices] OK, let's go. NARRATOR: The team
begins the trek. They quickly encounter
their first obstacle. Well, I'm beginning to
understand a little about how tough this trek's going to be. We haven't even got
to the mountain yet. NARRATOR: With the temperature
hovering at 90 degrees, the heat makes the climb
even more strenuous. The middle one is [inaudible]. Yeah, yeah. Still a long way to go. [chuckling] We'll be staying
predominantly by this river, mainly by this river. MB, what I'd like you to do is
as we're following the river trail-- we'll do this, but I'd like
pauses every now and again to go down and scan for the
riverbank, potential prints. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest" is
searching the remote Himalayan wilderness of Nepal for a
frightening killer known as the Abominable Snowman. Legends about the monster
date back more than 400 years. Explorer Peter Byrne
learned of the stories during his many
trips to the region. What's fascinating about the
background history of the Yeti is that you find it
in Tibetan tapestries. They call them thangkas, and
they hang them on the walls. You find them in
the monasteries. And in every one of those,
there's always a little figure in the background peering over
the rocks, through the rocks, and over the edge of the
mountain, which is what they called the metoh-kangmi,
or the Yeti. NARRATOR: When Western explorers
first searched the area, more encounters with
the beast emerged. The earliest was in 1832, when
Englishman AT Hodgson reported a tall, bipedal creature
covered with long, dark hair. The name Abominable
Snowman emerged in 1921 when some explorers had a
problem translating the Sherpa language. [inaudible] the name
Abominable Snowman came from, there was a Colonel Waddell. And when he found footprints,
he asked his Sherpas, what made those? And they said that was
the metoh-kangmi, which means the foul-smelling
man of the snows. He came back, wrote an article
in "The Calcutta Statesman," and he called it the abominably
smelly man of the snows. That's where the name came from. NARRATOR: Sir Edmund Hillary and
Tenzing Norgay, the first two explorers to set foot
on top of Mount Everest, found tracks and heard the
beast's chilling screams in 1953. Tenzing Norgay told me
that his father had heard screams while he
was herding yaks way up at about 16,000 feet. And the screams were very scary. NARRATOR: Over the
years, fearful encounters with this monster
seemed to increase. Lord Hunt, who led the '53
successful Everest expedition, he told me that when they were
camped on one of their climbs up at about 18,000, they
heard these tremendous screams at night. The Sherpas were nervous. NARRATOR: Then in 1951 came
physical evidence of the beast. Eric Shipton in the 1900s
found footprints in the snow high up. NARRATOR: Explorers Eric
Shipton and Dr. Michael Ward took these photos of a long
line of unidentified tracks on the side of a glacier. Frightened, the Sherpa
guides told the two men that the tracks belonged
to the Abominable Snowman. PETER BYRNE: And
this led to a belief that the things lived very,
very high in the snow. NARRATOR: The photos
taken by Shipton allegedly show the
creature gripping the snow bank with its feet
as it jumped from one point to another. These sightings led many to
pursue the beast, including this wealthy American. Tom Slick was a
fascinating man. He was very well educated. I believe he had a
degree in physics from Harvard University. He loved the outdoors,
though, and he was fascinated by mysteries. He had a team of men
measuring a mountain in Tibet to find out if it was
higher than Everest. He had people in South
America looking for diamonds. And then he had me and
my team in the Himalaya investigating the Yeti. NARRATOR: Slick undertook his
initial expedition in 1957. The first reconnaissance,
which was January, February, March, 1957, was really a probe
to see if there was anything there. During that reconnaissance,
we did find footprints. And that excited Tom
Slick and persuaded him to back the remaining
expeditions, which then went across three years. NARRATOR: During
these expeditions, the evidence was not
limited to just footprints. Right now, we're looking
at one of the hairs. INTERPRETER: "MonsterQuest"
has been given access to hair gathered 50 years ago
and labeled only as Animal X. They will subject it to
a detailed morphological examination. JASON BECKERT: What we see
here are some of the hairs from the Tom Slick sample. You can see that the
hairs are quite thick, and they also go in color
from white through a light and then eventually
a darker brown. And the hair, especially
the longer hair, has some gentle waviness to it. NARRATOR: To test the
hair, they will examine it under a polarized
light microscope and then compare it to
known animal species. The team is planning for the
next phase of the expedition. Just to clarify, guys, we all
have to be wary of the weather here. If a system comes in,
if a storm comes in, it could potentially have a
quite dramatic impact on us, because the snow system
will sit in this valley. And right now it's warm,
or comparatively warm, but it could drop to minus
very, very quickly indeed. So I think the best
thing we can do is get over this system
right now in case it changes. Let's go, then. [eerie music] NARRATOR: Dr. Ian Redmond
believes the Abominable Snowman actually lives at
lower altitudes where food sources are plentiful. You can see lots of
different plants growing. And even though
it's the dry season and all these epiphytic
orchids are all dried up, we know that come June,
July, when the rains come, this will be a burst of color. And there's also
berries here, too. So usually when you
go up a mountain, the higher you go, the more
biodiversity drops off. Fewer and fewer species can
exist at the higher levels. And lower down the
mountain, humans have taken away most
of the biodiversity and replaced it with crops. So it's just this
area between where we hope to find sufficient
food that might sustain a large primate. NARRATOR: And he points out
the presence of freshwater to support his theory. So, beautiful
refreshing stream. But I just notice that
this is a hypericum plant. And the genus hypericum
has many species in it. In England, we call
it St. John's wort. In the Virunga volcanoes,
where I worked with gorillas, it grows into a tree form. And the gorillas eat the bark. It has medicinal properties. And it's possible that primates
here might use it, too. And the more we're getting
into this area of higher biodiversity, the more potential
food source for any primates, large or small, we're starting
to see, which is encouraging. Onwards and upwards. And then downwards
and then upwards. NARRATOR: The team reaches
a section of the trail that has collapsed. Just have a look at there. Have a look at there. Basically, what MB is saying
is that this is probably the hardest part of the trek. There's a vertical ascent
up that slope there. We're going to have
to get rope down. And if you fall, you die. That's where we are right now. I'll make it a
point not to fall. Oh, yeah. Do your best. [non-english speech] NARRATOR: They make it
safely around the landslide but become concerned
about the weather. I don't really like
the look at that. No. It's moving quite fast
and changing shape. And-- If that's a front
coming in, this could sort of wreck everything. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest"
is searching for the notorious
Abominable Snowman in the high Himalayan mountains. The beast is known to hunt
yak and even local villagers. INTERPRETER: He was
afraid of seeing us. NARRATOR: This woman tells
of her husband's encounter with a terrifying
beast many years ago. INTERPRETER: Many years ago,
my husband worked as a porter. He was carrying a
load for a tourist. And he saw the Yeti
in the [inaudible].. It has such a long
footprint and long hands. The two quickly hurried down the
mountain to avoid the creature before it could attack them. As they turned and looked
back, they saw the beast heading the other way. [interposing voices] The team is climbing and
trying to get to cover before the approaching storm. I don't really like
the look of that. No. It's moving quite fast
and changing shape. And it's-- If that's a front
coming in, this could sort of wreck everything. Is there any
information we can get? I was going to say, I
have the little radio. But I don't know if you can
pick up a weather forecast. But I think we've got a sat
phone in case of emergency. Oh, terrific. I think that's what we do
next is check this weather. NARRATOR: Davies decides they
need to evacuate the situation. Boys, come on up. We've made it. Well done. We've got some serious
weather coming in. We were just-- we were
discussing that back a few kilometers ago, Ian and I.
We looked down the valley, and it was moving really fast. What are we going to do? Anyway, boys,
you've had a long day. Come on, let's go
get a cup of tea. Cup of tea! [interposing voices] [eerie music] NARRATOR: The team's progress
is halted for the moment while they wait for the
weather system to pass. Redmond and Davies
head to a nearby ravine where locals have reported
seeing the monster. I hope you guys are noticing
the bamboos getting bigger. We're seeing stinging nettles. Man and gorillas eat
stinging nettles. We don't know if the Yetis do. There's all sorts of
herbaceous plants. Berries, isn't that,
as well we've seen. And berries, yeah. I mean, the trouble is, we don't
know what we're dealing with. If you look at the kind of foods
that the different apes eat, chimpanzees eat fruit,
some leaves, and some meat. Gorillas mainly vegetation,
some termites, ants. Orangutans mainly fruit,
but also some small animals. So I think if you're going
to survive in this habitat, being an omnivore would be best. NARRATOR: Redmond finds further
signs of a possible primate habitat. This is a Senecio. It's a groundsel. And this is a bracket fungus,
which gorillas actually argue over. They really like this stuff. I'm really quite encouraged
by what I'm seeing. But I don't want to get too
excited until we find one. It's worth mentioning, though,
that the primates don't just grab stuff and stick
it in their mouth. They prepare
individual food items, and they select the nutritious
parts from different plants. So from one it
might be the pith, from another it
might be the root, sometimes it's a whole plant. And when they do that,
they leave bits behind. So if there are large
primates in these forests, we should see feeding sign. And that's why I can't wait
to get up into the area where it's further away
from human habitation. And the chances are we might
find some feeding sign, if there is such
a creature here. Absolutely. And that's where you
are going to be looking. Obviously we're going
to branch off later on, and we'll go upon
the snow tracks, and you'll be in the
middle of the forest. NARRATOR: Redmond
will focus his efforts in the valley at an
altitude of 8,000 feet, searching for signs
of feeding activity. Davies will lead his
team to higher elevations where tracks were found in 2008. [inaudible] Yeah. NARRATOR: The
temperatures are dropping as the team makes camp. This will be their
last stop before they make the final climb. The camp sits at an altitude
of 11,000 feet, which adds another deadly risk
to their already dangerous mission-- altitude sickness. Three main things
to look out for-- headaches, swollen
face, dizziness. Is that correct? NARRATOR: Now, obviously
they'll look out for themselves, but I'd appreciate it if
you, as a mountain leader, would like to look
out for us, too. Because we're disorientated. We might not be able to spot it. If any of us are feeling
any altitude sickness, we need to tell MB immediately
so that we descended 500 feet. Is that correct, MB? OK. Even if it's at night, in
the dark, in our tents. All right. This is only
option, to reverse-- --altitude
sickness effect, yes? Well, if you frighten
them down to me, great. And if I frighten
them up to you, great. I don't care any way they
come, as long as we find them. I don't care how we do it. But this is a good
plan, I think. NARRATOR: It is at these heights
that the haunting nocturnal screams of the beast have been
heard by many other explorers. [eerie music] The threatening weather
front has passed, and the team
prepares to move out. Redmond will remain
in the forested area, and Davies will take his
team above the tree line to 15,000 feet. Since Redmond and Davies
won't see each other until they are
back in Kathmandu, they discuss final details. I want to wish you luck. But I have to say,
I'm quite glad you're taking all these porters away. Because me, I want
the smallest team I can work with, to be
as quiet as possible with no fires, no
clattering tent, no cooking. We want to be quiet in the
forest, listening and looking. NARRATOR: The large part
of the expedition team says goodbye to Ian, and
they begin their ascent. The porters are fascinated
with the heavy helium tank. If we don't have this
bottle, this not work. We do this big balloon. Have you heard about
the big balloon? Yeah, yeah. Without this
bottle, nothing works. I want to know how hard this is. OK. - Little down.
- Little down? Yeah. God, how am I going to get up? I'm sitting on the ground. OK, up. Up, up. Yes, yes. Christ. Man. I have to lean forward, because
this would break my head off. Yeah. Yeah. OK. Oh, guys, you have to
do this all your life, because I think I'd make
this 100 meter and fall over. OK, we put it down. That's enough. Wow. I'll tell you,
mate, these guys-- [sighing] NARRATOR: The team's only
means of communication is the intermittent signal
of a satellite phone. For Davies and the
rest of the climbers, this will be their most
extreme gain in elevation. They will ascend over 3,000
feet to reach the location where the 2008 team found
the footprints. They soon find more
signs of animal activity. What we've found here is some
scat, some poo of an animal. We reckon it's a predator. So what we're trying
to look for here is what this animal
has last eaten. So it looks like it's
predominantly vegetation, which obviously doesn't
point to a predator. Adam? ADAM DAVIES: Yeah? Can you come and have
a look at this, please? INTERPRETER: "MonsterQuest"
is high in the Himalayas searching for the legendary
Abominable Snowman. At an altitude of
almost 12,000 feet, they have discovered intriguing
five-inch footprints. All I did was just grab
this leaf, and the diggings-- OK. MB, MB, I want you to send
two people down the trail now and look for any
more prints like this. NARRATOR: The initial
analysis of the print seems to indicate it's
from an unknown species. It might be a bear. The problem we have-- and it's an important
point to know-- is that the most common
misidentification of Yeti prints are bear prints. Because bears, when
they walk, their prints can look very much
like human prints. They're rounder at
the heel, and they're shorter than human prints. But because they often overlap
when they're walking slowly, it can make it look
like a big human print. Mr. Yagihara knows
what I'm talking about. The animal puts its back
foot into the front footprint as it walks. Exactly. Which can give you a
perception of walking on two feet rather than-- - Yeah, it gives you--
- --four. Exactly. Now, that's one of the mysteries
we're trying to solve here. The Himalayan bear is
obviously active in this area but not active at
this time of year. Between October to
March, April, bears are supposed to
be in hibernation. Here, in the middle
of January, it looks like we've got
some bear activity. That is very, very
interesting scientifically. And I'm not sure
what conclusions we can draw from that. NARRATOR: World-renowned
mountaineer Reinhold Messner is skeptical of the existence
of the Abominable Snowman. Messner was climbing at an
altitude of 13,000 feet. As he searched for a
safe place to bed down, he became aware of an
unsettling presence. Messner watched as a beast
emerged from the darkness. The encounter so frightened
him that Messner trekked through the night
instead of camping. Messner was determined
to find out what he saw. He now believes it was
the Himalayan brown bear. Messner thinks the reason
it is misidentified is because the animal has adapted
to the extreme environment. Messner believes the
reason the bear was feared is because it competed
with early man for food. Messner is not
alone in his belief. Piero Genovesi is a wildlife
biologist who studies bears. He says it's quite possible
that bears could be mistaken for another creature. Genovesi says the remote habitat
makes it difficult to study the Himalayan brown bears. Experts do know that the
physical characteristics of Himalayan bears vary
from those of brown bears in other regions. Like Messner, Genovesi
believes the tales about the Abominable
Snowman are simply a case of mistaken identity. [music playing] Zoologist Ian Redmond is
searching at a lower elevation where there is more
vegetation and potential prey for this creature that
is said to hunt yak. I'm very keen to break
off from the main expedition and spend some time with
as small a number of people as possible in the forest. And that's where I think
we'll increase our likelihood of seeing something. NARRATOR: The group's small
size puts them at greater risk should the creature
choose to attack. Redmond has met up with a
local hunter for protection. I'd like to follow his advice
on where we might see Yeti tracks or signs where they might
be feeding, if they come down to drink, to the river. Those are the sort of
places we're looking for. We don't yet have that
evidence, that skull in the hand that we need to confirm that
the Yeti exists as a living flesh-and-blood animal. But eventually I think
we will find that, because I can't see how else all
these tracks can be explained away. My hunch is that the Yeti
doesn't spend all his time up in the snow. It makes more sense
to me as an ecologist to look a little bit
below that in the valleys where there is lots
of vegetation, lots of potential food. NARRATOR: Dr. Redmond
is searching areas where a predator
might stalk its prey. There's a very nice
array of cat prints here. The hunter describes
it as a tiger, but it's far too
small for a tiger. NARRATOR: Redmond is able to
identify two species roaming the area around the river. So when we saw
the deer and the cat tracks crossing the trail
just near the bridge, I wanted to understand whether
all along the riverbank there are deer and cat tracks
or other animal tracks. The cat I could see
walking across the bridge. That suggests that the deer
are moving up and down here, and the cat was
crossing the bridge. I suspect that if the Yeti is
an omnivore, foraging in a river valley like this, turning over
stones, looking for crayfish or whatever else lives
in these streams, could be a way of foraging
that a Yeti might use. And that would mean that there's
a good chance of seeing signs of their work, if not
actual footprints. NARRATOR: There are
more encouraging signs of potential food sources
for a large primate. I just found stuck to my
sock a plant that in England we call cleavers or
goosegrass or bedstraw. The leaves are covered
in tiny little hooks. And this is actually the main
bulk food item of the mountain gorilla. So to find galium up here,
well, it's another item that Yetis might eat if
they have a diet anything like mountain gorillas. North is thataway. So I think we should go down
and then up into that valley so that we're on the
other side of this hill. So this is a great spot
with all these footprints. But I think we should
move down the river and then try and go up
the valley over there. OK. OK. IAN REDMOND: Explain
that to the hunters. This-- this, to me, looks
like baboon droppings. In Africa I would say,
oh, a baboon sat here. But here you have macaques
and langurs, I think. You can crack it open and see
what the animal's been feeding on. And this is fairly well-chewed
grass stems by the look of it. And this is seed pods. I'm not quite sure
what that was. I thought it was maybe a
bit of bone, but it's not. It's all plant material. I was hoping to see some
insect remains in there, too. But maybe in winter, there
are not so many about. I can see there's quite
a few bits of monkey dung on the rocks. Obviously they like to sit
here and take in the sunshine. But I'd like to go
up the river further. And when it gets easy to
cross, I'd like two of us work on either side. So there's a nice
sandy patch here. And those are fresh deer tracks. But there's also
an old boot print. So some time ago, someone,
maybe one of the hunters, came this way. It's clearly a logical place
for anyone coming up this bank to come between this
rock and the river. So I think this would be an
ideal place for a camera trap. NARRATOR: Redmond will
place camera traps to see what animals
are visiting the area. And here's trap one,
and here's trap two. What I'd like to do is to
get one trap up in the woods and then maybe one back
near the first bridge. NARRATOR: Redmond
marks the location of the cameras with a GPS so
he can locate them quickly. Just down there, there are
some fresh big cat pugmarks. They're occasionally hitting the
soft earth and leaving tracks. But if we think like a bipedal
hominid, which is what-- if the accounts are to
be believed-- the Yeti is likely to be, when
he comes along here, it would probably go up
between those two boulders. I would, and I suspect any
tall, thin animal would. And so that's where I'm going
to put the next camera trap. This is a stunningly
beautiful valley. And just as I came
around the corner, a vulture took off
from that rock. So I'm going to go
up and have a look and see if there's
a carcass there. And if there is, then perhaps
put a camera trap there and see if anything else
comes to investigate it. NARRATOR: Dr. Redmond is aware
that a carcass would mean that its predator cannot be far away. So we come around the corner,
we see a vulture take off. We think a vulture is likely
to be eating something. And here's a bone. And I suspect that
where there's one bone, there'll be some more. Second shoulder blade here. NARRATOR: Dr. Redmond
discovers a mountain goat that has been slaughtered. Whoops. Steady on. Below. From the shape of
the horns, it's, I think, a goat of some kind. Probably we can take
these horns back. I was wondering if there might
be a bit of meat on the legs, too. But I think most of
the good meat is gone. If there is a large bipedal
primate like a Yeti up here, and there's not
much food up here, this might not just be of
interest to cats and dogs. It might be of interest to Yeti. So I suggest we set up
the camera trap maybe just right on that tree there. That's pretty good. NARRATOR: Redmond decides
to stake out the carcass and wait for the
beast to return. If I'm not back by midday,
start to come and look. But don't come
early in the morning because that's when all the
action might be happening. [eerie music] NARRATOR: Redmond gets settled
in as darkness descends. He's hoping to see
something at first light. Well, here we
are at 9,450 feet, perched on a large boulder
jutting from the side of a cliff, about 150 feet
above a glacier-fed stream that's rushing by down there. It's potentially a dodgy
place to fall asleep, but we do want to be
here at first light. So we're going to wrap a
little bit of parachute cord around our middle and
tie it to this bamboo so that if we do roll over
in the night, we'll feel it and that'll wake us up. And, well, it should
be quite a night, then. [eerie music] INTERPRETER: "MonsterQuest"
is searching the Himalayan mountains for a
yak-killing beast known to the Western world as
the Abominable Snowman. What'd it look like? Tell me, what did
you see, [inaudible]?? I see-- I see-- what man must not see. NARRATOR: To locals here
who knew of the beast long before the
arrival of Westerners, the creature is
known as the Yeti. I think that people were
nervous about the Yeti-- I'm talking about the Sherpas,
the high mountain people, the [inaudible] and the Sherpas,
because they didn't know exactly what it was and
because it was man-like and because, they said,
it did scream at night. NARRATOR: Peter Byrne was the
leader of several expeditions back in the late 1950s. We put together Sherpa teams-- three men in a team-- sent them out to
look for footprints. And then we spent quite a bit of
time interviewing villagers who said they'd seen one
and talking to them and getting descriptions
of what they'd seen. The Yeti was believed
to be a primate. And there was some
suspicion that it might be an ape of some kind. But the great interest
on the part of scientists was the fact that
it walked upright. And all of the sighting reports
described something walking on two legs, something bipedal. NARRATOR: Local villagers
supported that theory when they were shown
images of known primates. We took a lot of pictures,
photographs, 8 by 10 black and whites, one of
a gorilla, a chimpanzee, and orangutan. And they had never seen
anything like that. But they looked at them. And when they looked
at the gorilla, they thought it was the Yeti. They said, this is what
the Yeti looks like. We also had pictures of
bears, lots of bears up there. They recognized
those, of course. But the nearest thing
in their comparison of what they were seeing with
our pictures was of a gorilla. Although in the case of
the Yeti, much smaller. NARRATOR: Byrne's search for
the Abominable Snowman spanned a period of more
than three years and led to a
mysterious monster said to harbor the ultimate evidence. And they said, oh. They said, we have a Yeti
hand up in the temple. Would you like to see it? In North Central Nepal,
there is one large monastery that's called Pangboche
Monastery, and then a number of temples. And we based there for a while. NARRATOR: The monks were
extremely protective of the hand and hid it
deep within the monastery at Pangboche. PETER BYRNE: We went up
to the temple in the dark and went into a locked room. And they brought out a box. And in this box, there
was a mummified hand, about the same size as my hand,
average sized male human hand. And I was very
excited about this. And I said, can I have it? And he said, no,
you can't have it. So I photographed it. And I sent the photographs back
to London, to Dr. Osman Hill. Eventually, the
answer came back, you've got to get the hand
or at least part of it. NARRATOR: Byrne pleaded with the
monks, who eventually partially relented. PETER BYRNE: And
the old lama let me take one finger of the
hand and leave the rest there. So we cabled Tom in code, and
I said, we've got the finger. What do you want
us to do with it? NARRATOR: The relic would
have to be smuggled out of the country. Word came from
London that Byrne was to meet an American in India. PETER BYRNE: He cabled back,
and he said, go to Kolkata and meet with a Mr.
And Mrs. Stewart. So I tracked down across Nepal,
got a train, went to Kolkata, got a taxi, went to the
grand hotel, went upstairs, and the Mr. And Mrs. Stewart was
Jimmy Stewart, the great actor, and his wife. So I gave them the finger. And they were worried about
customs going out of India. They were worried about
customs getting into London. So Gloria, Jimmy's wife, put
the finger in her lingerie case. And when they got
to London airport, the laundry case
had disappeared. A few days later at
Claridge's hotel, a young man came up
to reception, said, there's a customs man
here who wants to see you. So Jimmy said, send him up. The young customs man came up
with Gloria's lingerie case and gave it to her. And she said, well,
thank you very much, but you haven't opened it. And he said, a British
customs official would never open a
lady's lingerie case. And that's how the
finger got out of Nepal and got to Dr. Osman Hill. Osman Hill eventually examined
it, and others examined it. And all they could
say about it-- it was the thumb of the hand. All he could say about it
is it's not a human thumb. NARRATOR: The doctor
died, and no one knows what happened to the finger. But the finger was not the
only piece of the monster that was hidden in the monastery. PETER BYRNE: In one of the
monasteries in North Central Nepal, they had what they said
was a Yeti scalp, the skin taken off the top of the
head from the temple upwards. And it was dried. We saw it there. And they regard it
as a relic, so there was a certain
reverence around it because they didn't
have anything like that in the monasteries. They said it was very old. It had come from Tibet. And it was dark brown in
color, with very bristly hair. INTERPRETER: "MonsterQuest" has
acquired some of those hairs and is preparing to test them. When you're doing
a hair comparison, the knowledge that you
bring is the starting point. NARRATOR: Jason Beckert is a
researcher with Microtrace, a laboratory specializing
in the identification of unknown materials. The first step is just
to look at the hairs as they are with the eye. And then from
there, we'll move on to low-powered
stereo microscopy. And if need be, we'll continue
on and look at the hairs under higher magnification under
a polarized light microscope. And if potentially
necessary, cut cross-sections and
transverse-sections of the hairs. NARRATOR: Beckert will continue
his examination of the hair in an effort to
identify its origin. Meanwhile, other evidence
collected is being analyzed. After thorough examination,
Dr. Jeff Meldrum believes that the footprint
brought back by the Tom Slick expedition in 1959 may in
fact be that of a known animal. This is markedly different. The toe row is
parabolic, or arched here across the end of the foot. There only appear
to be four digits, but the witnesses indicated
that upon discovery there were five
toes, two of which blurred during the
casting process. The relative breadth to
the length of the foot is much more indicative
combined with the other features of a bear print, the
print of a hind foot or hind paw, rather, of a bear. NARRATOR: But when
Meldrum compares the track to an earlier and
better-known footprint, he makes a startling discovery. Probably the most famous
is the Shipton footprint, which was made by Eric
Shipton and Michael Ward in the Menlung Basin
of Nepal back in 1951. NARRATOR: Shipton and Ward took
these photographs of the prints which were then reconstructed
in three-dimensional form. It was hoped that the
reconstruction would help prove the existence of the
Abominable Snowman. One of the interesting
and mysterious things about this track is the unusual
arrangement of the toes. Here we have this unusually
and disproportionately enlarged toe,
second toe, which is in fact reminiscent of
the human condition known as macrodactyly. NARRATOR: Macrodactyly is a
condition where a digit becomes unusually large due to
an overgrowth of bone or soft tissue. It appears the footprint
actually stepped on an area of melt-out in the snow and
ice, and that what has been interpreted as this large,
wide heel is just an artifact. In reality, the
footprint outline comes down here, tapering to a
much narrower heel which also would force us to rotate
the axis of the foot, bringing the big toe more
down onto the medial side, the inside edge of
the foot, so that it looks like a divergent
big toe of a great ape. NARRATOR: The conclusion
that one of the tracks is likely that of an
ape is significant, because there are no great apes
known to live in the Himalayan region. The nearest habitat is
roughly 2,400 miles away. Meldrum adds that the similarity
between the Shipton print and the footprint of a
great ape is compelling. The presence of the divergent
big toe in the Yeti footprints, those that are most
compelling, would suggest that, in fact, this isn't
an animal restricted solely to the ground in the Alpine
zone of the mountain ranges, but that it
frequents the forests of the subtropical valleys,
and likewise forages and feeds and perhaps sleeps in
trees, and therefore relies on a divergent big toe
to climb into that habitat. NARRATOR: However, it is
difficult to determine conclusively based on
a single photograph. If Shipton and Ward had only
photographed a second or third footprint, much of the
controversy surrounding that instance would
be laid to rest. [eerie music] NARRATOR: The expedition
team led by Adam Davies reaches an altitude of
more than 10,000 feet-- the same elevation where the
Eric Shipton tracks were found. Temperatures have plummeted. They begin to see snow
and hope to find tracks. Now, this is what
I've been waiting for. [inaudible] I've got my boots on. I'm ready to go. NARRATOR: The team must be
alert to both altitude sickness and avalanches-- common causes of death in
this region of the Himalayas. The team must traverse
the edge of a glacier and over an area buried
under an avalanche. [non-english speech] I'm OK. I'm good, I'm good. NARRATOR: The fall
is a brutal reminder of the dangers of the region. The guide checks the climbers
for signs of altitude sickness. I feel tired. Yeah. No dizzies yet. Yeah, no headache. We've still got a heck
of a long way to go. NARRATOR: At this altitude,
there is 40% less oxygen than at sea level, causing
lungs to work much harder. For locals, altitude
sickness isn't a risk because their bodies are
acclimated to the thinner air. The climbers arrive at
camp just before nightfall. [interposing voices] [inaudible]. Fantastic. After four days and
climbing 11,000 feet and crossing terrain that even
one of the world's leading mountaineers describes as
tough, we're finally here. NARRATOR: The temperatures are
nearing single digits as they set up camp for the night. [eerie music] The team wakes and begins to
prepare the balloon for launch. I'm starting to get all the
pieces together at the moment, checking the electronics. And everything's looking good. Excellent. While I'm preparing,
you're going to be going up there and
finding me a place to target with a thermal infrared camera. See you later. NARRATOR: The group sends
out a small scout party to target the balloon flight. We're taking sun power, we're
converting it into electricity, and we're storing
it in batteries. These batteries will be used,
then, to charge the batteries that I've brought along to
operate my gimbal, which we're going to put up on this big
sphere with an infrared camera and do surveillance on the
hilltops around of an evening. NARRATOR: The
thermal camera will be able to get a bird's eye view
of the surrounding wilderness for miles, something
unattainable on foot. Wow. I'm struggling. NARRATOR: But a check
of the helium tank reveals a leak, a development
that could compromise the entire mission. And just at that
moment, the team makes an exciting discovery. Guys, I see something. It looks like prints. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest"
is searching the Himalayas for the mysterious
Abominable Snowman. Explorers from around the world
say they have seen and heard the beast. [speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: It was seen
in this area first in 1971. [growl] NARRATOR: Japanese explorers
had been searching the area around Nepal's Mount Dhaulagiri
when team leader Mitsuhiko Yoshino had an encounter
with a monster. YOSHITERU TAKAHASHI:
[speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: The first
time was the highest at over 16,000 feet. NARRATOR: The team set up
their camp for the evening while sensing something
was stalking them. They heard screams
throughout the night. [speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: We heard the Yetis
cry over a period of two days. It was clearly a "kwa"
sound that it was making. "Kwa." NARRATOR: The eerie howls
continued into the early hours. Yoshino went out to investigate. [speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: Expedition
leader Mitsuhiko Yoshino saw an animal covered in hair. He saw the animal
standing there. And when it came down, he
said it came down on two feet. Yoshino was at a distance of 30
feet, so he was really close. He got a good look at it. NARRATOR: Overcome with fear, he
was unable to get a photograph. [speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: I failed
to get a picture. The lens fogged up. If you bring it out of your
tent suddenly like that, it gets all misted up. That's why I
couldn't get a photo. It's too bad. If we had a picture, it would
make life so much easier. [growl] NARRATOR: Later, the team
found mysterious tracks. YOSHITERU TAKAHASHI:
[speaking japanese] INTERPRETER: As you
can see from the scale, the length is seven inches. The footprints are
about this big, from seven to eight
inches, so it was really pretty long and thin. Compared with human
feet, it's really slim. That's a defining
characteristic. So we know that there
is something out there, but it's undefined, so
it's a little difficult. The Yeti hasn't been given
zoological classification, so it's easy for us to
just call it the Yeti, but this is a big problem. But we're 100% sure there
is an animal like that. NARRATOR: The
"MonsterQuest" expedition is at 15,000 feet at the site
where the most recent prints were found. The teams discovered more
mysterious tracks in the snow. Guys, I see something. Looks like prints. I can definitely
see a line of what looks like large bipedal
prints going across the snow. We need to go and have
a look at it, yeah? NARRATOR: This could be
evidence of the beast that has killed yaks and
attacked local Sherpas. The guides quickly cross
the terrain to investigate. But they soon realize they're
not footprints at all. It's-- oh, it's amazing. NARRATOR: The
falling, rolling snow has created a trail that looks
like a line of footprints. The guides inform Davies
of what they've discovered. [inaudible] Yes. How did you get on? Oh, is that is the
snow is rolling there, and there's the track. So it's not-- it's rolling
snow is what you say. NARRATOR: They return to camp,
where preparations to launch the balloon are underway. Due to a slow leak
in the helium tank, the team has had to
resort to a backup plan. In this bag. In this one? We have a white
crystal, sodium hydroxide, and Nepalese mystery powder. NARRATOR: The two chemicals,
when combined, will create hydrogen, a much less stable and
more explosive gas than helium, but one that will
achieve the same results. It's extremely dangerous, but
it is the only alternative. I'm not really keen on
getting these chemicals all over my hands. We are four-days trek
from any civilization, and maybe five from
the nearest doctor. The only way out of
here in emergency is to try and get a helicopter. NARRATOR: The hydrogen
expands and contracts depending upon temperature,
which alters the amount of gas needed to fill the balloon. To ensure there is enough
gas to raise the balloon, the team will save the
helium for final adjustments. But I'm going to get as much
hydrogen as I can in here. I'm going to leave the
one bottle of helium that I've got to
quickly be able to alter the pressure of the balloon
as the weather disappears. NARRATOR: So far, everything
is going smoothly. Is that a good
sign or a bad sign? That means the reaction
is starting to take place. Say that again, Mick? I can already start to see
a vapor and a slight hiss taking place in the chamber. This means the reaction
is starting to take place. I'm now capping the
reaction cylinder and just making sure
the chemicals are mixed. Now we just stand and wait. To make enough gas, we
have to do this 40 times. [gas hissing] The gas is looking clean. Nice steam. Time to put it into the balloon. Let's get this on. Good reaction. Hang on. Wait until I get
the thread done. Can't feel the pressure
until I get it locked. Go. OK. Oh. Oh, what's that? Oh, here they come. On the hill they went. NARRATOR: This backup plan
should still enable the team to launch the balloon, even
at these extreme temperatures. So it's going to work then? Yes. Well, it is, slowly. It's going to be a very
long night, but we'll do it, I reckon. As soon as the balloon's
right, we're up. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest"
is searching the Himalayas for evidence of a
flesh-eating predator known as the Abominable Snowman. [foreign] It is a monster that has long
been sought by explorers, mountaineers, and even
by Nazi scientists. In the 1930s, Heinrich Himmler
was searching worldwide for the evolutionary
roots of the master race. He had heard the Yeti legend,
and had men hunting the monster in the Himalayas in hopes
of finding the missing link. The theory went so
far as to question whether the Abominable
Snowman could be an ancestor of the Aryan master race. Leading the expedition was famed
German zoologist and hunter Ernst Schafer. NARRATOR: Schafer reportedly
was unable to prove the Abominable
Snowman's existence, but the evidence remains. NARRATOR: The local villagers
told Schafer they knew where one of the creatures lived. NARRATOR: The creature
emerged, and Schafer shot it. He brought the carcass
back as evidence-- evidence he shared with no one. Messner says the
reason was simple. NARRATOR: DR. JEFF MELDRUM: Well,
It's been suggested that a known but
extinct fossil ape may have been the
origin of the Yeti, and that is Gigantopithecus. NARRATOR: Gigantopithecus was
a relative of the moderate ape and is believed to have existed
up to 300,000 years ago. Some believe there may still
be surviving descendants. DR. JEFF MELDRUM: So it's
possible that Gigantopithecus-- that the radiation of
species within the genus Gigantopithecus could have
relic populations in both areas of Eastern Asia
and North America as well as the Himalayas. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest" has
found evidence of a fresh goat kill in the low-lying hills
around Mount Dhaulagiri. Zoologist Dr. Ian Redmond is
unsure of the predator that slaughtered the goat. DR. IAN REDMOND: But he was in-- this is a tremendous
stroke of luck, because there's still quite
a lot of meat on this. And I think other animals will
still want to come and feed off this carcass. NARRATOR: Whatever has
killed the goat has yet to return to finish its meal. Redmond believes daybreak
may show some activity. DR. IAN REDMOND: It will
be interesting to see whether a little bit of heat
might give off more scent. It might attract
something to it. NARRATOR: After watching
the carcass for many hours, Dr. Redmond thinks the
condition of the meat could deter a scavenger. Hmm. The drawback with
coming late to a kill is that most of the
best bits have gone. But when a bone has been lying
in the sun for a few days and the hunter reckoned this
is five or six days ago when the animal was killed, what
you've basically got is jerky. And it you bite
a little bit off, it's actually not bad at all. You get it chewy. You get a bit of flavor. So as we've been sitting
up here for a long time without any food, well, you
use what nature provides. This is actually quite good. NARRATOR: The
abundant vegetation provides a further food source
for animals like the elusive Abominable Snowman. DR. IAN REDMOND: So walking
through a forest like this with fallen logs covered in
mosses and ferns and lichens-- it feels very much like
the Virunga volcanoes in Central Africa where I
studied mountain gorillas. And what really surprised
me when I started walking through these forests is how
many of the plants' genera here are the same
as in the Virungas. The species are different. And I've seen about seven or
eight species which are gorilla food plants-- the different species-- but
the same group of plants here could potentially be food
for a large mountain hominid such as a Yeti. Oh, I really do hope that this
one has some pictures on it. Let me get this back to
see if there's anything interesting on the card. NARRATOR: But as he
approaches one of the cameras, he makes a shocking discovery-- a strange primate skull. DR. IAN REDMOND: This
is an interesting find for primatologist. NARRATOR: The "MonsterQuest"
expedition team is searching the Himalayas for
the elusive Abominable Snowman. Described as similar to the
Sasquatch that witnesses say prowl North America, but it is
thought to be more dangerous and feared. LOREN COLEMAN: It looks like the
Abominable Snowman or Yeti is very similar to Bigfoot. They're large, they're
hairy, they're man-like, they tend to go
around on two legs-- bipedal. But as we start focusing
in a little bit, we start noticing that a lot
of the reports of the Yeti talk more about a rock ape-- an ape that sometimes
goes down on all fours and seems to actually
attack livestock more than the Bigfoot reports. There's a whole notion
here that the Yeti in fact is actively searching for
frogs, for small rodents, for yaks and other things,
almost as if they're a little bit more
carnivorous than the Bigfoot. NARRATOR: The attacks by
the Abominable Snowman are not limited to animals. People too have
allegedly been victims of this aggressive beast. LOREN COLEMAN: There are some
famous reports of individuals-- women-- walking back and
forth to the yak fields, having their hair pulled, being
attacked in out of the way places. The Yeti has many more stories
of them attacking yaks, attacking some of
the yak herds people. And so those Yeti reports of
actual physical confrontations with the native peoples
is much more prevalent than you hear about Bigfoot
in the Pacific Northwest. NARRATOR: Yet physical evidence
of the Abominable Snowman still remains elusive. LOREN COLEMAN:
Despite the history, despite the Western involvement,
despite all of the mountain climbing, we don't have
that much evidence. And in fact, during the 1950s,
a lot of cryptozoologists speculated whether or not the
Yeti were already extinct, because the amount of
evidence we're getting, the amount of sightings
are pretty rare. So we don't have
that much to go on. And compared to something
like Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest, the amount
of evidence, the amount of the real body of
testimony from the Himalayas is very minor. NARRATOR: The expedition team
believes that new technology may lead to a discovery
that could rewrite history. ADAM DAVIES: I can't begin
to estimate the significance that proving the Yeti's
existence would be for science. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest" has
outfitted a helium balloon with a thermal imaging camera. The camera will provide
a bird's eye view which will enable the team to monitor
any animal activity for miles around. [non-english] Oh, yeah. [non-english] ADAM DAVIES: Working
at these altitudes and in these conditions
is really a little bit hit and miss. Without being able to
bring excess supplies, you've got one shot at it. And I hope for the rest of the
team that we get these to work. NARRATOR: While the
balloon inflates, another concern arises. Well, at the
moment under here, I can feel that the wind's
really starting to push in from the northwest. [inaudible] It's OK. Yeah, it's OK. The wind's starting to push
in from the northwest, which is a bit of a directional
change to how it has been. So I'm hoping that there's
not a front, and especially a cold front, which will
decrease the lift capabilities of the balloon. NARRATOR: But as
the day progresses, it is clear the low pressure
system is wreaking havoc and the camera may
prove to be too heavy. This cloud that come over
us brought in a really, really cold front. Having problems with the gas. So what does that mean? Like contracting-- starting
to bring the wind in. As you can see, it's starting
to move the balloon about. NARRATOR: Having lost some
of the helium in a leak, the weather is now preventing
the balloon from lifting the thermal camera. The team quickly resorts
to the backup plan-- a smaller camera. So let's get
everything secured. OK. OK, boys. OK. Nice and easy, nice and easy. Slow, slow, slow. Don't burn your hands. And look at that. We're away. Fantastic. That's lifting beautifully. That wind's still coming
pretty hard over the top. Those clouds are starting
to bring in some cold air. That's getting up there now-- 160 meters. NARRATOR: The camera is
now above the highest peak of the mountain range. The 360 degree view
reveals no evidence, but night surveillance
will be the true test. Mr. Yagihara still found
prints on this ridge right where we're going to look. I heard an unidentified
animal noise there only the other night. Of all the surround, that still
remains the best place to look. Remember, most of the
accounts of the Yeti is that it's a nocturnal
creature as well. So we can use this thermal
imaging really well. If it is roaming
about on the hillside, then we've got the best
chance possible of finding it. And we can still see this whole
panorama, divide into teams, and maximize the potential of
really finding this animal. OK. As you guys took
off up the hill, we've got some evidence
that there is life here, because you've flashed some deer
down from the top of the hill. NARRATOR: The team decides to
try to drive the creature out into the open. ADAM DAVIES: I
think what we also need to do is wait until
it's really quiet in camp-- about 3:00 AM. (WHISPERING) OK, what
we're going to do is have two teams, OK? Mr. Yagihara and you, M.B. I
want you to go up on the ridge. Myself and Mick will go down
to the bottom of the ridge. Now the idea of it is that,
bearing in mind the Yeti's nocturnal, if anything comes
out as a result of our activity and starts rushing
down the gully, we'll be able to capture
it on the thermal image. NARRATOR: The group sets out
into the cold, dark night, taking a position on the
hillside away from camp. Mick, I think this
is an excellent spot, simply because as
Mr. Yagihara and M.B. go into the forested area, if
animals do come down or are disturbed by them, they will
come precisely to this point. This is a familiar one,
right by the water, and we've seen deer actually
rush down this way on occasion yesterday. So if there is-- and
the Yeti is thought be a nocturnal creature, so
it's more likely to be active more than any other animal
at this time of night. So if the Yeti is up
there and they disturb it, most likely, it's going to
come right on top of us. NARRATOR: Both teams are
equipped with remote monitors, allowing them to watch
for any movement. Eventually, Davies
detects a heat signature moving on the hillside. Before I start there. NARRATOR: "MonsterQuest"
is searching for the Abominable Snowman
in the high mountains of the Himalayas. It is a monster with a
blood-curdling howl that terrorizes the local tribesmen
and kills their livestock. This explorer made
multiple expeditions searching for the beast and even
smuggled possible remains out of Nepal. This man believes that sightings
of the Abominable Snowman are actually a misidentified
Himalayan bear. This doctor is analyzing
tracks in the hope of proving the identity of the monster. And this scientist is
analyzing 50-year-old hairs which are believed to have
come from the creature. The "MonsterQuest"
expedition team has targeted an area they
believe the Abominable Snowman may inhabit, and are searching
for it using thermal cameras during a nighttime surveillance. They've seen heat
traces on the monitor, but have not been able
to identify the source. After several hours, they
decide to move their position. ADAM DAVIES: What
I'd like to do now is I'm going to try
the forested area. The idea behind
this is very simple. As you go into
the forested area, if there's anything in
there sleeping or feeding, bearing in mind the Yeti
is a nocturnal creature, then you should disturb it. If you do disturb it, it is most
likely to come down this way as a familiar run
near the water. And then me and Mick should
be able to pick it up. All right, so see you later. It's going to be daylight soon,
and we've nearly exhausted all our power supplies. So I think we've done
a really good effort. I think the best thing to do
now, really, is to get back and have a hot cup
of tea before-- because we can't
do any more now. We are down to the
last couple of minutes before the juice goes. NARRATOR: The
exhausted researchers try to get a couple of hours
sleep before the Sherpas begin to pack up camp. The science team
has been analyzing some of the well-known suspected
Abominable Snowman tracks, including the most
recent, found in 2008. DR. JEFF MELDRUM: It measures
about 18 centimeters, so just over seven inches in length. So fairly small. My concerns with
this print would be that there are no sharp edges
left to define a footprint, but evidence of extensive
melting and refreezing. The snow is very
granular and pitted and the edges are
all soft and blurred. The only part that
is very distinct is this-- quote-- heel,
where clearly the snow has been punched through
probably to the ground below. I'd have to say that
my gut reaction to this would be that the only
part of the footprint that is a footprint is right here,
and therefore, being only about an inch in diameter. NARRATOR: Dr. Meldrum concludes
that the unusual print is caused by a disturbance
of the snow. DR. JEFF MELDRUM: This is
probably a hoof print, not even a footprint per se. And this is just drag
in or drag out artifact when the snow is much deeper. NARRATOR: The
science team is also concluding their microscopic
examination of the hair, known as Animal X, taken from the
suspected Abominable Snowman skullcap. JASON BECKERT: We're
actually looking at a longitudinal
section where we've cut along the long axis of
the hair, splitting the hair. And the reason we do this is
to see the internal structure of the medulla. The medulla is the innermost
portion of the hair. And we can see-- go up to a higher
magnification-- some of the cell
structure in here. It's difficult to see, but
there are these small ovals and circles of cell structure. One of the things
that we're looking at is the amount of space the
medulla takes up relative to the diameter of
the hair in general. The medulla itself
takes up roughly 65% of the overall hair's diameter. And in humans, general
guideline is it never would take up more than a third. So a medulla of
this width clearly rules out the possibility
that this hair is human. NARRATOR: Beckert also examines
the outer surface of the hair. JASON BECKERT: What
we're looking at here is the cuticle scale
pattern from the hair. A cuticle is made up
of individual scales on the outermost
layer of the hair. And this particular pattern is
what we'd call a regular wave pattern. And it has smooth margins. NARRATOR: And his conclusion
is that the Animal X here came from a known creature. JASON BECKERT: An antelope or
one of the early deer species. NARRATOR: Back in Kathmandu,
Adam Davies and Dr. Ian Redmond meet to discuss their findings. How'd you get on? Well, I just-- sure. We found this monkey
skull near the base camp. And it was just a skull and
the bones of the feet and hands and a couple of vertebrae. So I'm pretty sure this must
have been shot by a hunter. NARRATOR: While
it doesn't belong to the Abominable
Snowman, the skull is evidence of primates living
in the low-lying valleys of the Himalayas. Dr. Redmond describes the
other discoveries of search. But we found the carcass
of a Himalayan wild goat which had obviously been
eaten by a predator. The face has been chewed off. And it just struck me that
if yes, these are omnivores, they might well scavenge off
the kills of other predators. And this is the trap that
was beside the carcass. ADAM DAVIES: Good idea. NARRATOR: As the team reviews
the camera trap images, they see a few birds
and what appears to be the antlers of a deer. Well, let me tell you a
little bit about what we did. Please, yeah. And then we'll-- we got up there,
and obviously we're at an elevation of about 11,500
feet, as you know, is the camp. And then up above,
on the slopes above, we thought we saw Yeti tracks. I was like, oh, yes. Get up there, and all it was,
unfortunately, was a snow roll. Just a snow roll. I think in summary, there
are two important conclusions that we can draw,
from my opinion. And obviously, I want yours. The first one is that we do have
here a sustainable habitat that could support a Yeti. How do you feel about that? From what I saw, yes. There's food up there
for a large animal living at a low density. You couldn't have
a group of Yetis like you have a group
of mountain gorillas, because you see the
trail everywhere. But I would say that's possible. The second one I think that
it's really important that we draw is that the prints
that Mr. Yagihara found are not that of
the langur monkey. NARRATOR: This
"MonsterQuest" expedition has made some
interesting discoveries. The Himalayan mountain region
holds plentiful food sources, many containing high levels
of protein, which could easily sustain a large primate. The mysterious hairs
found over 50 years ago have finally been
determined to be those from a species of antelope. An examination of
the witness story suggests some witnesses may
be seeing a species of bear-- one which may have a
shaggy coat adapted to the extreme conditions. And while some footprints
could be misidentified, the Shipton footprints
photographed in 1951 exhibit characteristics similar
to that of a great ape. I think that we should
continue to search. I think that with a
determined expedition, something could be found
using today's technology. Even in the 21st
century, there are new primates being
discovered every year, it seems. Some of them are just revising
the taxonomy of a group, where subspecies are
elevated to species. But there have been a couple
of surprising, brand new, never been seen
before by scientists. DR. JEFF MELDRUM:
Why aren't there such apes in habitats where they
could readily make a living? That should be the enigma in
my mind, not the converse. ADAM DAVIES: It's
simply too easy to say that all the prints found
and all the eyewitnesses that have seen the Yeti and all the
evidence over the centuries simply are the result of
misidentification of a bear. I'm sorry, I'm not buying it.
