NEWS: Lab to test 'sasquatch' hair

[PhishyBrewer]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The debate over the existence of sasquatch, aka Bigfoot, an ape-like creature said to haunt the wilderness of western Canada has entered the world of modern DNA testing.

 

A laboratory will test hair samples that several residents of Teslin, Yukon, say were left when the large, but so-far mythological creature made a late-night run through their community in early July.

 

University of Alberta wildlife geneticist David Coltman, who agreed to do the tests as a favor to a colleague, said on Monday that scientists have cataloged the DNA of nearly all large animals in the Yukon such as bears and bison.

 

"So we'll compare it to all of that, and if it doesn't match anything, then it's potentially interesting," said Coltman, who suspects the hair was actually left behind by a much more mundane Yukon bison.

 

"If sasquatch is indeed a primate, then we would expect the sample to be closer to humans or chimpanzees or gorillas," Coltman said.

 

The legend of a large, hairy, two-legged creature lurking in the mountains of western Canada and the United States dates back to before Europeans settled the continent. This was the second report of the creature near Teslin in just over a year.

 

In the latest sighting, a group of Teslin residents told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. they heard branches cracking and saw a large human-like creature run by a house. It left behind large footprints, they said, and the hair tufts that were given to wildlife officials.

 

Coltman expects to have his results on Thursday and said that even if the hair turns out not to be from a sasquatch, the process should serve as good way to get students interested in the field of DNA testing.

 

"It's sort of like a wildlife CSI story," he said.

[WalrusMan]

No one will ever believe anything until we have a body part, most likely a dead carcass. But, as these aren't found very readily, the necesity for a gun arises. And then you run into laws. At least one county has an actual law against shooting them, depending on what they actually are, you could be commiting a homicide, and from the best estimates in population, you'd also be shooting an endangered animal.

[WalrusMan]

Update I guess.....

 

Sasq-NOT, not sasquatch.

 

Canadian Press

 

July 28, 2005

 

A hair sample some claimed came from a sasquatch in the Yukon has turned out to be from a bison.

 

A geneticist from the University of Alberta who did tests on the sample says the DNA match for a bison was 100 per cent.

 

David Coltman says the DNA was highly degraded, suggesting the hair sample was not fresh.

 

Coltman isn't speculating on whether that suggests somebody was trying to pull a fast one on the existence of Bigfoot.

 

The sample was reportedly plucked from a bush near Teslin, Yukon, earlier this month at a spot where several people heard - and swear they saw - a large, hairy creature.

 

There was also an unusually large footprint.

 

Guess it ain't true.

[DenDen]

darn, i was hoping to read that it was his pubic hair!

[SharkTums]

^LOL!

 

Eh, I'd rather find out that Nessie is real over Big Foot!