NE - Yeti hunters would do better to look after endangered Himalayan bears

[Guest guest]

Chemo or yeti?

HELLA BINNENDIK IN LHASA

From Issue #380 (28 December 07 - 03 January 08)

Yeti hunters would do better to look after endangered Himalayan bears

http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/380/Nation/14309

An American TV crew searching for yeti footprints found some in Khumbu on

24 November, just four days into their search.

 

Amazingly, the Destination Truth team spotted the 12-inch footprints only

half a day's walk from the airstrip at Lukla, near the lively village of

Monjo and at an altitude of just 2,850m. Even more remarkable was that the

find was close to Khumbu's most travelled trekking route and occurred at

the end of one the busiest trekking seasons for years. It was nothing short

of miraculous.

 

My husband Dennis and I were equally lucky. On 22 September, while enjoying

a trek in Khumbu, we stumbled upon a footprint in the Renjo Khola valley.

We took photographs and Dennis joked about us having discovered a yeti

footprint. I laughed but I had to admit that, at an altitude of 5,100m, the

remote valley just below Renjo La looked the perfect habitat for a mythical

creature that for decades has successfully avoided encounters with humans.

The late monsoon rain and the freshly fallen snow on the pass had kept

other trekkers out of the area.

We showed the pictures to Sherpa friends and compared the shape and size of

our footprint with those photographed and published by other mountaineers.

We came to the conclusion that our footprint might indeed belong to a yeti.

In his book, My Quest for the Yeti, Reinhold Messner suggests the legend of

the yeti may be based on the existence of the chemo, a hairy Himalayan

bear. Coincidentally, I went to Tibet after finding the footprint. In Lhasa

I visited the zoo, the only place in the world where one can see a caged

chemo.In a bare cement hollow, like an empty swimming pool, I found this

beautiful creature with a magnificent thick brown coat of fur. His head was

mostly white and around his chest was a white collar that extended to his

belly. I spent the afternoon watching him, while he stared back with sad

eyes. He and his female companion spent their day pacing in circles or

hiding from the sun in their concrete shelter. The enclosure was totally

devoid of grass, bushes, trees or even rocks. These bears, naturally

omnivorous, were fed a diet of tsampa.

I left the zoo feeling frustrated. The living conditions of these bears are

horrendous. While pseudo-scientists continue their expensive, glory-seeking

searches for the mysterious yeti, here is an endangered mammal, within

reach of every visitor to Tibet, that is pleading for immediate help.

 

Couldn't those people at Destination Truth widen their focus beyond the

apparently successful yeti-hunting expedition to give some attention to the

welfare of the beautiful chemo? Surely it would be worth highlighting the

plight of this remarkable creature, which might disappear altogether if its

conservation is not taken seriously