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An undated handout picture from Yeti Project Japan, received on October 20, 2008, shows what is alleged to be the footprint of a Yeti (left) measured on the Dhaulagiri mountain and compared to a human footprint (right).
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A team of Japanese adventurers say they have discovered footprints they believe were made by the legendary yeti said to roam the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet.
"The footprints were about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long and looked like a human's," Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Project Japan, told reporters in Kathmandu on Monday.
Takahashi was speaking after he returned with his seven-member team from their third attempt to track down the half-man-half-ape, tales of which have gripped the imaginations of Western adventurers and mountaineers for decades.
Despite spending 42 days on Dhaulagiri IV -- a 7,661-metre (25,135-foot) peak where they say they have seen traces of yetis in the past -- the team failed in their prime objective of capturing one on film.
But Takahashi said the footprints were proof enough.
"Myself and other team members have been coming to the Himalayas for years and we can recognize bear, deer, wolf and snow leopard prints and it was none of those," he said.
"We remain convinced it is real. The footprints and the stories the local tell make us sure that it is not imaginary," he added.
Photographs of the prints have been posted on the expedition's website, www.everest.co.jp/yeti2008/.
The team had set out nine motion-sensitive cameras in an area where Takahashi saw what he thought was a yeti during a previous expedition in 2003.
"It was about 200 metres away in silhouette. It was walking on two legs like a human and looked about 150 centimetres tall," said Takahashi.
Despite their lack of success this time, the team plans to continue the quest.
"We will come back as soon as we can, and we will keep coming back until we get the yeti on film," said Takahashi.
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(Agencies)
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日本一個探險小組日前稱，他們發現了傳說中 的“雪人”的腳印。據說“雪人”活動在尼泊爾和西藏的喜馬拉雅山一帶。
“日本雪人考察隊”隊長吉輝高橋于本周一在加德滿都接受采訪時說：“那些腳印長約20厘米，像是人留下的。”
這是高橋帶領他的七人考察隊第三次來到喜馬拉雅山追蹤“雪人”。“雪人”是一種半人半猿的動物，幾十年來，“雪人”傳說引起了西方探險家和登山愛好者的極大興趣。
探險隊在道拉吉里四號峰“蹲點”42天，卻沒能完成拍到“雪人”照片的最初目標。道拉吉里四號峰海拔達7661米，日本探險隊稱他們曾在這里發現過“雪人”的蹤跡。
但高橋認為，這些腳印足以證明“雪人”的存在。
他說：“我和考察組其他成員曾多次來喜馬拉雅山考察，我們可以分辨熊、鹿、狼和雪豹的腳印，而這次發現的腳印不屬于這其中的任何一種。”
他說：“我們仍然相信‘雪人’的存在。這些腳印和那些流傳的故事讓我們確信，‘雪人’不是傳說。”
“雪人”腳印的照片已在探險隊網站www.everest.co.jp/yeti2008/上公布。
探險隊在一個區域內布置了九臺高靈敏度運動捕捉相機，（試圖拍到“雪人”）。高橋稱，在2003年的那次考察中，他就在這一帶看見了一個“雪人”的身影。
他說：“當時那個影子離我約200米遠。它像人一樣，用兩條腿走路，身高約1米5。”
盡管這次探險隊沒能拍到“雪人”的照片，但他們仍將繼續努力。
高橋說：“我們會盡快回來，不拍到雪人的照片，我們絕不罷休。”
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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