BBC News, Meghalaya

In the US it's known as bigfoot, in Canada as sasquatch, in Brazil as
mapinguary, in Australia as a yowie, in Indonesia as sajarang gigi and,
most famously of all, in Nepal as a yeti.

The little known Indian version of this legendary ape-like creature is
called mande barung - or forest man - and is reputed to live in the remote
West Garo hills of the north-eastern state of Meghalaya.

I was invited by passionate yeti believer Dipu Marak to travel throughout
the area to hear for myself what he says is compelling evidence of the
existence of a black and grey ape-like animal which stands about 3m
(nearly 10ft) tall.

There have been repeated reports of sightings over many years by different
witnesses in the West, South and East Garo hills.

Mr Marak estimates the creature weighs about 300kg (660lb) and is
herbivorous, surviving on fruit, roots and tree bark.

The Garo hills comprise more than 8,000sq.km of some of the thickest
jungle in India.

And as I soon discovered, there is no shortage of people who say they have
seen the creature at first hand.

Take woodcutter Nelbison Sangma, for example, who works on the fringes of
the Nokrek national park in the Garo hills.

In November 2003, he says that he saw a yeti three days in a row.

He took me from his village to the spot where he says he made the
sighting, a five-hour walk in intense tropical heat from his house.

"I saw the creature quite clearly on the other side of the river. It was
breaking branches off trees and eating the sap. Its strength was amazing.

"Obviously I wanted to photograph it, but I knew that if I left the area,
it would take at least 10 hours or more to get a camera as I do not own
one. By that time the creature would have disappeared."

Mr Sangma says that he told the state forestry department of his sighting,
but they did not believe him.

He took me to the spot where he says the yeti destroyed a tree - an
exhausting uphill walk through thick jungle infested with blood-sucking
leeches.

Mr Sangma showed me where the creature broke the tree's branches and
clearly visible scratch marks on its bark.

A 10-hour drive away from Nokrek is the other national park of the Garo
hills, Balpakram, which lies amid thick jungle on the border with
Bangladesh.

It is an extremely remote area, where the hum of insects clicking in the
undergrowth sounds like a series of disconnected power cables.

Balpakram is famous for its vast jungle-filled canyon which spans several
miles and is surrounded by spectacular cliffs. Any descent is a
treacherous exercise.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/06/22/news0140.htm