(IN) Goral, not Yeti sighted in Garo Hills

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Wednesday,

October 15, 2008 Himalayan Goral, not yeti, sighted in Garo Hills:

Scientists<http://newsonnortheast.blogspot.com/2008/10/himalayan-goral-not-yeti-\

sighted-in.html>

 

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From Our Spl Correspondent

 

NEW DELHI: The hair, believed to be that of much publicised yeti in the Garo

Hills, is actually that of a Himalayan goat, which in itself is a discovery

since the rare animal was earlier not found in this part of the country.

 

Scientists in the US, who have examined hairs claimed to belong to a yeti in

India, say that in fact they belonged to a species of Himalayan goat. DNA

tests on the hairs - obtained from Meghalaya - show that they are from a

goat known as a 'Himalayan Goral', according to reports.

 

The rough-haired creature has a grey-brown coat and is between 95-130 cm

(37-51 inches) in length. It was not previously thought to roam so far south

of its known habitat.

 

Those who believe in the existence of the little known Indian version of the

legendary yeti - or abominable snow man - say it is an ape-like creature

called *Mande Barung *- or forest man. The hairs were given by Mr Dipu

Marak, who retrieved them from a site in the dense jungle after *Mande

Barung *was allegedly seen by a forester for three days in a row in 2003.

 

The first series of tests were carried out at Oxford Brookes University in

central England with award-winning primatologist Anna Nekaris and microscopy

expert Jon Wells from the University's Anthropology Department. Using some

of the most sophisticated microscopes in Britain, the hairs were magnified

up to 200 times and then compared with a database of other hairs provided to

Mr Redmond from Oxford's Na-tural History Museum and the Primatology

Department at Oxford Brookes University.

 

After the tests were completed, Mr Redmond - who is also a senior consultant

for the UN's Great Ape Survival Project - and Ms Nekaris were able to rule

out the " obvious candidates " to whom the hairs might belong.

 

The hairs were then sent to the US for further tests where the link with the

goral goat was established.

 

The DNA test is an interesting result because the reported location where

this sample was collected is way south of the published distribution maps of

the Goral species, which is said to live between 1,000 to 4,000 metres up in

the Himalayas.

 

In recent years different witnesses in the West, South and East Garo hills

of Meghalaya say that they have seen the creature. Mr Marak estimates to

weighs about 300 kg (660 lb) and is herbivorous, surviving on fruit, roots

and tree bark.

 

Scientists said that initial microscopic tests on the hairs were potentially

very exciting as they bore a startling resemblance to similar suspected yeti

hairs collected by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary. After the

microscope tests, the hairs were sent to a lab in the US for DNA analysis

and by a process of elimination the hairs from India were compared with

hairs from other animals known to live in the area around the Garo hills.

 

The Garo hills are one of several places in the world where similar

creatures like the 'Big Foot' in the US, the 'Sasquatch'* *in Canada, the

'Sajarang Gigi' in Indonesia, and the yeti in Nepal are found. These are

part of local legend and from where occasional sightings are reported.

source: the shillong times