You Guys, There Might Be A Secret Species Of Bear Roaming The Himalayas

Big bear news today, everyone!

Some science guy named Bryan Sykes has been trying to figure out if Yetis are a real thing. We're not really into Yetis around here, because there are so many other awesome animals that are real—Like bears!—in this world to get excited about. But Sykes's research, which consists of DNA testing supposed Yeti hairs, has revealed something worth getting excited about: The possibility that there exists a yet-to-be-discovered species of bear!

According to Sykes, the DNA from these two samples matched the genetic signature of a polar bear jawbone that was found in the Norwegian Arctic in 2004. Scientists say the jawbone could be up to 120,000 years old.

[...]

Sykes said the fact that the hair samples were found so far apart, and relatively recently, suggests the species that the hairs came from may still be alive.

"I can't imagine we managed to get samples from the only two 'snow bears' in the Himalayas," he told the Associated Press.

Sykes speculated that the creature could be a new bear species, or perhaps a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.

"The next thing is [to] go there and find one."

Let's go find this goddamn bear.

[ National Geographic]