MANDE BURUNG: The Indian Yeti of the Garo Hills

One of the lesser known Asian hominids is the Mande Burung  of northeastern India.Said to roam the subtropical rain forests of Meghalaya,particularly the western region of the Garo hills.Reports and sightings are rare,however, curiosity got the better of me and I ended up visiting the area in April 2011.

 

The most challenging aspect of organizing an investigation into this region is the ongoing  violence between the Garo and Khasi  ethnic groups.When this does occur the state is closed off to foreigners.About 3 months prior to my arrival there were a series of  deadly clashes which I was sure would prevent me from entering, luckily things calmed down and I was able  arrive in the town of Tura via Guwahati without incident.An interesting note is that  the Garo people are said to be of Tibetan ancestry while the Khasi have roots in Burma and headhunting was still known in the early 1960s.

Once there I was able to organize several long hikes into the  forest.The park is famous for the endangered western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) which are heard more often than seen. I was also prepared to do a multi-day trek across the park but was told there was only one full-time professional guide in the region and he was currently trekking in the Khasi Hills and needed to be booked several weeks in advance.

Strangely enough none of the locals seemed to know much or care  about the Mande Burung. I did meet a government botanist carrying out a taxonomy survey in the park and when I brought up the subject of a yeti-like creature inhabiting the area he shook his head in disgust and told me it was nonsense.However,a few days later as I was wandering the outskirts of Tura I met and chatted with a local outdoor enthusiast who had camped and hiked most of the national parks in Meghalaya.He told me that some villagers believed  that a chimpanzee-like creature did inhabit  the deep jungle and from time to time would raid crops that fringed the forest.

Other than that I was unable to extract any additional  info from the locals.

Will I return one day?Probably,as I was there during my "pre-trail cam period" and I would love to do a hi-tech expedition,which to the best of my knowledge has not been attempted.

For more detailed information about the Mande Burung please visit the link below:

http://www.mandeburung.4t.com/index.html

YEREN: The Wild Man of Shennongjia

Much has been written in the annals of cryptozoology about the wild man of central China but very few foreigners have actually conducted field research in the region.Below are a series of photos taken from my Febuary 2010 Yeren investigation deep into Hubei province.I had just finished a 6-month stint as an ESL teacher in  the city of Nanning and my reward was a weeklong cryptozoological excursion into the infamous  Shennongjia National Park.An incredibly diverse region with  habitats ranging from sub-tropical to alpine and Yeren reports since time immemorial.

                                           

 

  



After a several days of exploring the forests in southern part of the park I headed up north to the restricted area around the town of Songbai.It was here that I wanted to trek and visit the

Shennongjia Museum of Natural History where Yeren casts and a model are supposedly on display.After successfully getting through two checkpoints I walked around the town in search of accommodation.After passing a large police station several times I found a small hotel where I checked in without any difficulties.For the next few hours I wandered around the outskirts of town looking for trailheads as well as the museum.



After finding several interesting paths into the forest I headed back to town and just along the main road I came across a billboard for the Museum of Natural History.It shows a Yeren that significantly differs from what  is usually presented in the western media.Often a very shaggy looking beast with a large lion-like mane is depicted.Yet here the Yeren  is very hominin in nature and could easily be interpreted as form of Pieking Man(Homo erectus).To my understanding the tracks are very similar to a Sasquatch/Bigfoot but much smaller which would indicate a man-sized creature and  most reports ,albeit rare ,would corroborate this.

About 15 minutes after photographing the billboard I was approached by a policeman and told to leave the area immediately or face arrest.Luckily,just across the street a mini van was heading back to Shennongjia town and I hopped in without much hesitation.

 

I have no immediate plans on going back however,if do end up returning to China for professional reasons I will definitely conduct a more extensive investigation and expedition.

I have also posted additional photos on YouTube which you can view below.