Almas

The almas are elusive and savage man-beasts that dwell into the mountain ranges of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Their description somewhat resembles prehistoric man, given their short stature, powerful muscles, hairy bodies and lack of ability to speak. Accounts of the almas go back for hundreds of years, and the natives consider them to be a natural part of their environment.

In 1925, a Red Army cavalry regiment led by general Mikhail Stephanovitch Topilski came across a cave. After the troops fired several rounds into the dark – expecting that enemies might be concealed within – a naked human-like animal ran out screaming, only to die several yards away from gunshot wounds. Topilski documented the animal in detail, mentioning the hairy body, powerful muscles and apelike facial features.

An even more incredible account is that of Zana, a female almas that was captured by the people of a remote village in the Zadan mountains of Georgia. Zana was domesticated by the hunter who trapped her, and strangely enough, bore him three sons, who were almost normal people but with extraordinary strength and notoriously short tempers. Zana died in 1880; the remains of his youngest son were dug up and analyzed by Soviet scientists who subsequently confirmed the fact that his skull indeed exhibited pre-human features.