February 20, 2009

They’re Real: Siberian Yeti Update

The faint outline of a Siberian Yeti track found in a cave can be seen in this Russian photograph.

“I just learned of a press report by the German division of the Russian news-agency called ‘RIA Novosti’ that gives some more and new – even curious – information about the Siberian Yeti sightings and the alleged expedition,” writes Andreas Muller, in an email to Cryptomundo.

Muller has sent me a “fast translation of the German press report,” which I share below, after fine-tuning some edits for an English-speaking audience:

Bishop searches for Siberian Yeti

Kemerowo, Feb. 19 (RIA Novosti). On Thursday, Bishop Artistarch of Kemerowo and Nowokusnezk started to travel to the Assas-Cave south of the Donez basin (Western Siberia), a place where allegedly traces of a Yeti have been found.

Earlier, the local administration of the Kemerowo region in the south of Western Siberia had published a report stating that inside the cave local hunters had seen human-like creatures of 1.5 – 2 meters tall, covered with a thick fur. The report was accompanied by a photo of discovered traces of the unknown creature. [View it above.]

With a snowmobile, the only means of transport to the cave, the Bishop – together with the chief of the region and several escorts – is now on his way to the caves.

The exact whereabouts of the Bishop and his team is unknown at the moment because the cave’s location is beyond the reach of the local mobile-phone network.

The Asass-Cave lies 500 kilometers distance from the region’s capital city, Kemerowo, and about 80 kilometers from the next bigger town called Taschtagol.

As RIA Novosti has learned from the local administration’s press service, there are also plans to conduct a full research expedition, to validate the Yeti reports. So far financing is still in question but local businessmen as well as passionate hunters have already declared to voluntarily support the search.


Drawing by Harry Trumbore, from The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates. Copyright Loren Coleman & Patrick Huyghe, 1999, 2006.

Additionally, here is the full-text of the other February 19, 2009, UK Daily Star account:

New Search for Ginger Minger Yeti!
by Will Stewart

A family of Yetis is being tracked by hunters after reports that the creatures are living in a mountain cave complex.

The animals are said to be more than 6ft tall with ginger-black hair and leave large, distinctive footprints that include toe marks.

Sightings have been made near the remote Russian mining town of Tashtagol in Siberia.

Galina Pustogacheva, spokesman for the town, said: “There have been reports over the years about these creatures, but the number has increased dramatically.

“We have had more than 10 sightings in recent weeks.”

The creatures have been seen walking on two legs by villagers from the hamlets of Elbeza and Kabarza and tourists visiting the region around the Azass caves on Mount Shoriya.

Sightings have worried locals and forced officials to launch an expedition, led by hunters and anthropologists.

“People here are scared the creatures will attack villages because of hunger,” said Nikita Shulbayev, deputy head of the local administration.

“We made a decision to send an expedition to research this issue.

“We need to understand whether they are dangerous for people. We need to calm people down.

“Scientists from Kemerovo University will help us discover what the creatures are – whether they are a rare kind of bear or a surviving primate from pre-historic times.”

No photographs have been taken of the beasts. “No-one can get close enough,” said a hunter.

But one witness said: “The creature reminds me of a bear. In his footprints one can clearly see toes.

“He is 1.5 to two metres high. He is covered with red and black hair and can climb trees.”

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Abominable Snowman, Breaking News, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Yeti