On April 29, 2019, the Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI) account said an expedition team had found mysterious Yeti footprints near Makalu Base Camp in Nepal. Photos of what appeared to be a single-file trail quickly drew skeptical jokes and pop-culture comparisons. The post documented the Army’s claim—not proof that a Yeti exists—and the identity of the photographed tracks was not conclusively established in the contemporaneous coverage.
What the Indian Army said it found
The Army said its mountaineering expedition team saw the tracks on April 9, 2019, close to Makalu Base Camp. In its April 29 post, it called them “Mysterious Footprints of mythical beast ‘Yeti’” and gave their size as 32 by 15 inches. That is the Army’s reported measurement, not an independently verified one. The Guardian reproduced the post and reported the equivalent as 81 by 38 cm: The Guardian’s account.
The Army also said the elusive snowman had previously been sighted only at Makalu-Barun National Park. Its post used the spelling “sited” in the original wording. Makalu is in Nepal, on the Nepal-China border, but the Army’s stated location for the tracks was near the base camp in Nepal.
Why the photographs prompted one-foot jokes
Viewers focused on the images’ apparent single-file line of prints. That appearance became the joke: commenters wondered whether the Yeti had one foot, was hopping, or was moving on one leg. The joke was about how the trail looked in the photographs; it did not establish how the tracks were made.
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Online reactions also invoked the Night King from Game of Thrones and the Yeti in Hergé’s Tintin in Tibet. Some commenters questioned why the Army had posted the claim or asked whether an animal expert had been consulted; others supported the Army or debated its description of the creature as a “beast.” Contemporary coverage records a burst of skeptical humor and disagreement, not a verified engagement total or evidence of lasting public opinion. Examples were reported by The Indian Express and NDTV.
What the evidence does—and does not—show
The photographs and the Army’s description do not by themselves identify the animal that made the tracks. Wildlife Institute of India Director V. B. Mathur told The Indian Express that “more evidence is needed to conclude which creature’s footprints they might be” and also to “completely debunk the idea that they could be the footprints of a Yeti.” That was a statement about the limits of the available evidence, not an identification of the prints: The Indian Express report.
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There is a separate scientific context, but it should not be confused with an analysis of the Army’s photographs. A DNA analysis published in 2017 examined samples presented as Yeti material, including hair, fur, and faeces; news reports said the samples identified bear species, including Himalayan and Tibetan brown bear subspecies and an Asian black bear. Those earlier samples were not the 2019 tracks, and their results do not identify what made them. The Guardian summarized the earlier analysis in its 2017 report.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Yeti in Himalayan folklore
The Yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is part of Himalayan and Nepali folklore. The Kathmandu Post describes stories passed down in Himalayan communities and notes the Sherpa name “S(c)hokpa.” Folklore and reports of sightings are culturally significant, but they are not the same as zoological evidence that a distinct creature exists. The paper’s account of the folklore and the 2019 reactions is available at The Kathmandu Post.
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