Siberian officials have proclaimed they are 95 per cent certain that the yeti - the fabled ape-like creature said to inhabit the Himalayan region - actually exists.
A statement on Kemerovo region website, in southern Siberia, says an expedition to the Shoria mountains found "indisputable proof" that the region is home to the so-called "abominable snowman".
"They found his footprints, his supposed, bed, and various markers with which the yeti marks his territory," the Kemerovo region administration said in a press release.
The discoveries follow a conference organised in Tashtagol last week by Kemerovo's governor and attended by yeti enthusiasts from Russia, the United States, Canada and Sweden.
In the light of the latest findings, Kemerovo may "create a special research centre to study the yeti", the statement added.
But William Hill appear confident they will not have to pay out on confirmation of the yeti's existence in the near future.
The bookmakers are prepared to offer odds of 100-1 that conclusive proof of the current existence of the yeti will be authenticated by the Natural History Museum on or before 31 December 2012.
"Interest in the yeti market has reached an all-time high," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams, "but we have not seen anything yet that has got us too worried."
