There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Tracking Gobi Grizzlies.
Taxonomy is the professional chore of assigning Latin names to lifeforms and trying to fit them into fixed categories, the better to organize our understanding of nature, even though the essence of life is change. No wonder the correct classification of creatures is a source of continuous debate. Whatever label Gobi bears eventually end up with won't alter their essence as a unique population of bruins with a unique way of life at the outermost edge of the outer edge of possibility for their kind. They are not huge, they are not white, and they don't inhabit the snowbound heights of the greatest mountains on Earth. But they are big and tousle-furred and call for a serious stretch of the imagination on our part.
The Himalayan brown bear qualifies as a Yeti you can prove you saw. Mazaalai may or may not have originally been connected to that subspecies. Call Gobi bears gobiensis, isabellinus, pruinosus, or improbabilis. It doesn't matter to me. They are my Yetis. They're my Bigfoot, my Mongolian Alma, my lost tribe of powerful hairy beings, rearing up to walk on two legs at times, roaming a landscape as remote and mysterious, demanding, and beautiful in its own way as the Himalayas. And although no one tracking down rumors of them managed to prove their existence to the world at large until almost the middle of the twentieth century, they are as real as warm breath and a beating heart. At the same time, they are in danger of not being real for much longer.
Bears of the Himalayan Mountains
