An undated handout¹ picture from Yeti Project Japan, received on October 20, 2008, shows what is alleged² to be the footprint of a Yeti (left) measured on the Dhaulagiri mountain and compared to a human footprint (right).

A team of Japanese adventurers say they have discovered footprints they believe were made by the legendary³ yeti said to roam the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet.

"The footprints were about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long and looked like a human's," Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Project Japan, told reporters in Kathmandu on Monday.

Takahashi was speaking after he returned with his seven-member team from their third attempt to track down the half-man-half-ape, tales of which have gripped the imaginations of Western adventurers and mountaineers for decades.

Despite spending 42 days on Dhaulagiri IV -- a 7,661-metre (25,135-foot) peak where they say they have seen traces of yetis in the past -- the team failed in their prime objective of capturing one on film.

But Takahashi said the footprints were proof enough.

"Myself and other team members have been coming to the Himalayas for years and we can recognize bear, deer, wolf and snow leopard⁴ prints and it was none of those," he said.

"We remain convinced it is real. The footprints and the stories the local tell make us sure that it is not imaginary," he added.

Photographs of the prints have been posted on the expedition's website, www.everest.co.jp/yeti2008/.

The team had set out nine motion-sensitive cameras in an area where Takahashi saw what he thought was a yeti during a previous expedition in 2003.

"It was about 200 metres away in silhouette⁵. It was walking on two legs like a human and looked about 150 centimetres tall," said Takahashi.

Despite their lack of success this time, the team plans to continue the quest.

"We will come back as soon as we can, and we will keep coming back until we get the yeti on film," said Takahashi.

日本一个探险小组日前称，他们发现了传说中 的“雪人”的脚印。据说“雪人”活动在尼泊尔和西藏的喜马拉雅山一带。

“日本雪人考察队”队长吉辉高桥于本周一在加德满都接受采访时说：“那些脚印长约20厘米，像是人留下的。”

这是高桥带领他的七人考察队第三次来到喜马拉雅山追踪“雪人”。“雪人”是一种半人半猿的动物，几十年来，“雪人”传说引起了西方探险家和登山爱好者的极大兴趣。

探险队在道拉吉里四号峰“蹲点”42天，却没能完成拍到“雪人”照片的最初目标。道拉吉里四号峰海拔达7661米，日本探险队称他们曾在这里发现过“雪人”的踪迹。

但高桥认为，这些脚印足以证明“雪人”的存在。

他说：“我和考察组其他成员曾多次来喜马拉雅山考察，我们可以分辨熊、鹿、狼和雪豹的脚印，而这次发现的脚印不属于这其中的任何一种。”

他说：“我们仍然相信‘雪人’的存在。这些脚印和那些流传的故事让我们确信，‘雪人’不是传说。”

“雪人”脚印的照片已在探险队网站www.everest.co.jp/yeti2008/上公布。

探险队在一个区域内布置了九台高灵敏度运动捕捉相机，（试图拍到“雪人”）。高桥称，在2003年的那次考察中，他就在这一带看见了一个“雪人”的身影。

他说：“当时那个影子离我约200米远。它像人一样，用两条腿走路，身高约1米5。”

尽管这次探险队没能拍到“雪人”的照片，但他们仍将继续努力。

高桥说：“我们会尽快回来，不拍到雪人的照片，我们绝不罢休。”