Almas: Wild Men of Mongolia

In Seram of the Maluku Islands, also known as the Moluccas archipelago of Indonesia, lives a creature that has fueled both the curiosity and fear of the locals. Known as Orang Bati, or in Indonesian terms, the winged man, the creature resembles a human or giant ape with bat-like wings.

Almas is a Mongolian word for wild man. The plural term almasty is derived from Russian, while other variations of the name are almasti, almaslar, bnahua, and ochokochi, which translates as the name for a forest deity in the West Asian regions, such as Armenia and Georgia. Current accounts of the most recent sightings of the almas locate it near the southern part of Mongolia, along the Altai Mountains and the Tien Shan pass near the northern border of China.

First accounted in historical records in the 1400’s, almas is not used to refer to one organism, but a community of many. These individuals are described as subspecies of hominids, in which humans and primates like orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees belong to. Almasty resemble the appearance and body framework of Neanderthals, another species of hominid, which roamed Western Asia about 350,000 years ago.

Almasty are bipedal organisms, which can walk upright on two hind legs. The common height range for almas is five feet tall, but adults can be as high as six to six and a half feet. Their bodies are covered entirely with thick brown to reddish-brown hair. The facial region remains uncovered, but patches of skin are dark. The skull structure of the almas possesses a protruding brow ridge, slanting forehead, flat nose, and large protruding jaw. Their feet are large and their fingers are long, their appendages are completely covered with hair, except for their hands.

Accounts from Russian historian Professor Boris Porchnev in 1964 explained that the Almas appeared to have a cone-shaped skull, and the teeth structures are similar to humans, except that the canines are wider. Porchnev has even reported to have encountered the descendants of the Almas, which were grouped in families that dwelled in holes on the ground. Porchnev further describes the human-like beings as having excellent swimming and running abilities, foul odor, and diet that consists of small mammals, vegetables, and fruits.

The almasty as nomadic creatures have traveled beyond the areas of Mongolia in which they were frequently sighted by farmers and villagers. Stories and reports dating from the last fifty years have located the almas community around the Caucasus mountains near Russia and the Black Sea. Artifacts and evidences of the existence of almas communities have also been found in the Pamir mountains of Central Asia.

One of the most recent expeditions that aimed to locate the almas was led by Russian cryptozoologist Dr. Marie-Jeanne Kofman and Frenchman Sylvain Pallix in 1992. Similar to the findings of Porchnev, the data gathered by Kofman describes the almas as large hairy creatures, weighing as much as 500 pounds, and are nocturnal creatures that can run as fast as 40 miles per hour. However, the only solid evidences Kofman was able to collect were hair samples, footprints, and droppings.

Variations of names of the almas and the regions they were sighted are: barmanu from Afghanistan and Pakistan, golub-yavan from Tajikistan, ksy-gyik from Kazakhstan, and mulen from Tungus in Siberia, among others.

There is a website that describes the Almas and numerous other creatures of Cryptozoology in detail, this website is called: Unknown Creatures and it may be found at this url: http://www.unknown-creatures.com

Robert W. Benjamin has been in the software business on the internet for over 7 years, and has been producing low-cost software for the past 25+ years. He first released software on the AMIGA and C64 computer systems in the late 1970's-80's. Robert has written many articles pertaining to numerous subjects, and he has also developed over 6 different websites.

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