Siberian Yeti Resort to Open

The development is in an area of the world that claims to have one of the highest number of sightings of a legendary creature also known as Bigfoot.

Igor Idimeshev, 48: ‘We are building the Yeti Park now, and of course there will be a chance for people who come here to see creature. For me having Yetis here means something much more than the tourist attraction’.

The new Yeti Park will be constructed at Sheregesh ski resort, in the stunning Shoria Mountain area of Kemerovo region in southern Siberia. The development comes with a pledge by the region’s governor Aman Tuleyev to offer a one million rouble ($33,000) reward to anyone who can catch a Yeti and prove its existence.

‘I’ll pay a million to anyone who will find the Yeti and bring it to see the me. I’ll sit down with him, chat and have a cup of tea’, he promised.

Critics see the Yeti Park – with a hotel and a themed children’s playground – as a crude attempt to bring in both Russian and foreign tourists.

‘We can see how Scotland exploits the Loch Ness Monster, who why can’t we do the same with the Yeti?’ admitted one official. ‘We hope people will come from all over the world.’

Recent tours to remote caves in the region have found samples of Yeti hair, though various promises of definitive DNA research on them have somehow failed to materialise.

Despite this, local officials insist the Yeti is real, even if Igor Idimeshev, 48, deputy head of the local administration in Sheregesh, and the man behind the new park, has a novel explanation for its existence.

‘I’ve seen this creature several times’, he said. ‘I think it is most likely of the extraterrestrial origin, not from this world. The Yeti might suddenly disappear and re-materialise. Another extraordinary thing is that Yeti’s hair is luminous at night, and also that the Yeti can walk on water.’

Later in an interview with The Siberian Times, he elaborated on his close encounters with the Yeti, despite admitting his mother told him not to tell people because they would not believe him.