The Khumjung Yeti scalp and monastery specimen controversy

Record summary

Khumjung Monastery has long preserved a scalp-like relic identified locally as belonging to a Yeti. Modern visitors, journalists, and genetic researchers have treated it as a testable artefact, while earlier examinations associated it with a serow or other Himalayan ungulate. The object matters because it sits at the intersection of Sherpa religious tradition, tourism, museum display, and cryptozoological claims. Its identity, sampling history, and the relationship between the displayed object and tested material require careful reconstruction rather than assuming that a monastery relic was presented as a zoological specimen.