Russian Yeti is actually... an American bear

For the last three years, there have been several sightings of a Big Foot-type creature in the Mount Shoria region of southern Russia.

Russian fishermen have reported seeing the hairy creature walking on two legs in the region, while days later some others told Fox News that they "saw some tall animals looking like people".

Just last year, the Daily Mail reported that samples of fur found in a Siberian cave were analysed and scientists discovered that it did not belong to any known animal from the region, such as a bear, wolf or goat.

But now The Sun has given samples of this hair to a leading genetics expert, only to discover that the mysterious creatures is actually an American bear that could have escaped from a circus.

The Sun reports that Professor Bryan Sykes of Oxford University's Wolfson Institute found that one of the long, thick hairs comes from a type of black bear from North America - Ursus americanus. They can grow to be seven feet tall - which would explain why it could have been mistaken for a yeti.

The other two hairs turned out to be from a racoon and a horse.

Experts aren't sure how the bear actually ended up in Russia, especially as this type of bear is never usually found outside America.

Professor Sykes told The Sun: "The hairs did not come from a yeti. The American black bear result was highly unusual. An explanation could be an animal escaped from a circus, zoo or private collection, but it is extraordinary."

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