In September of this year, a BBC reporter sent two hairs found in the dense Garo forest of India to the Oxford Museum of Natural History, in the hope that they belonged to the “mande barung” or “forest man”. Early tests by researchers found that the hairs mentioned were not from a primate, which increased the concern about the origin of the hairs.

In this way, DNA extraction was initiated and samples were sent to different laboratories in both Cardiff and Oxford. The results of both laboratories indicated the same: the hairs were not from yeti or any primate, but from a species of goat called goral. Gorala, or Naemorhedus goral, is a goat species that lives in the Himalayas, and at least through this study we know more about the area where gorala lives. The Yeti must remain a mystery.