Expedition Finds Possible Evidence of Legendary Russian Wildman

A North Devon team of scientists has returned from a three-week expedition to the Caucasus Mountains in Russia with what may be evidence of a creature closely related to man.

The five-man team from the Woolsery-based Centre for Fortean Zoology, teamed up with Russian and Ukrainian scientists to hunt the almasty, a huge, hairy wildman said to inhabit parts of Russia and the former USSR.

Cryptozoologist Richard Freeman said: "We found hair, dung and skull shards that may be from an almasty. These are going to be analysed by geneticists in order to establish if the DNA points to an unknown species."

Freeman, who claims he nearly died no fewer than four times on the mountain adventure, says he and his colleague, the explorer Adam Davis, may have come within 12 feet of an almasty while staking out an abandoned farm at 2.30 in the morning.

"We were in a room in the farmhouse with a door facing out on to the veranda," he said. "The 7ft high door was open a couple of inches and starlight was flooding through. We heard a deep, guttural vocalisation. A few seconds later something passed by the door blocking out the starlight to a height of at least 7ft. We grabbed our cameras and rushed out into the night, but whatever it was had vanished."

Richard and his team will be revealing their findings at the Centre for Fortean Zoology's annual conference, the Weird Weekend. Among the other firsts at the conference will be a new book launched by world renowned zoologist Dr Karl Shuker. Dr Shuker's Casebook examines a whole menagerie of bizarre and mysterious beasts from all over the planet.

Expedition Finds Possible Evidence of Legendary Wildman in Russian Caucasus Mountains
Expedition Finds Possible Evidence of Legendary Wildman in Russian Caucasus Mountains