Was the Abominable Snowman a bear?

Photo credit: Tommy Heinrich, National Geographic

With winter looming fast, I thought a snowy story would be very fitting, so what better than a post about the infamous Abominable Snowman?

I expect every single one of you have heard of this "mythical" creature, also referred to as the Yeti, but how many of you know that once upon a time, it possibly existed right here on Earth? 

Bryan Sykes, a geneticist from Oxford University, has matched DNA from the hairs of the supposed Abominable Snowman to the DNA of a species of Arctic Polar Bear that existed in the Norwegian Arctic up to 120,000 years ago!
Sykes believes, that as these samples were found in 2004 (so not very long ago), that this bear may still be alive, giving reasonable explanation to the many sightings of the "Abominable Snowman" over the years. 

"I can't imagine we managed to get samples from the only two 'snow bears' in the Himalayas," - Bryan Sykes. 

He believes that this may be a new species of bear or even possibly a hybrid between a Polar Bear and a Brown bear, and that the next step of the investigation is to "go out and find one". 

Sykes' findings will be documented on The Bigfoot Files, which will premier on Channel 4 this Sunday (and on Nov. 17th at 8:00pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel in the USA).