The
initial examination of the hair has turned up indecisive results, with the hair being labelled as coming from no known animal.
The
hair evidently has a similar cuticle pattern to the hairs Sir Edmund Hillary brought back to England in 1960. These examples
were from an alleged Yeti scalp that Sir Edmund was allowed to return to England with from a Sherpa Temple in Khumjung Gompa.
The
hairs were found to be from a Serow Antelope - Capricornis thar, Sir Edmund knew of this possibility at the time as the scalp
was used for ritualistic purposes, but chose to have it tested anyway to shed any doubt.
Further
testing will be done on the new specimens, which apparently have a similar cuticle pattern to Sir Edmunds hairs but show dissimilarities.
The
hair microscopically shows slight similarities to Human, Orangutan and the Hillary Serow hairs so further investigation has
been justified.
Once
DNA testing has been completed it will narrow down exactly which species this creature belongs to and what its closet relatives
are.
If
this does turn out to be some species of ape it will furnish the Holy Grail to substantiating these creatures actually exist.
One
cryptid species which was substantiated in this way was the New Zealand Moose; hair samples were DNA investigated and proved
these creatures do indeed reside in the Fiordland area in spite of the regions dense bush making visual searches for the animals
unachievable.
This
is not the only case where DNA is being used in the hunt for a cryptozoological mystery.
Recently,
the Centre for Fortean Zoology mounted an expedition to the Karbadino Balkaria in Southern Russia to search for the Almasty.
They
have returned with hair, faeces, and possible finger bones, all awaiting DNA examination.
With
the use of DNA testing each new sample collected closes the noose on the likelihood that these creatures do actually exist
and their official scientific discovery.