AnimalsAustraliaCryptozoologyHumanMammalsMonkeysMythology

Yowie – Australian Yeti

Yowie – Yeti from Australia

Yowie, like Yeti is often presented as a dangerous, unpredictable and wild creature. How much of that is actually true? If Yowie really exists, what is its life, a way of acquiring food, family life?

The information presented below constitute rather speculations, based on the reports provided by regular people and by those who devote their time to find an answer to one of the most important questions about Yowie: what might it have been and does it really exist?

Basic information

  • Status: cryptid
  • The alleged place of occurrence: Australia
  • Other names: quinkin, joogabinna, jurrawarra, puttikan, gubba, doolaga, gulaga, thoolagal, yahoo, yaroma, noocoonah, wawee, pangkarlangu, jimbra, tjangara

Yowie is often described in the legends of Aboriginal Australians, in particular in the eastern territories of Australia. Its description is sometimes quite similar to the description of other Aboriginal creature – bunyip.

Yowie
Statue of a Yowie in Kilcoy, Queensland, Australia.

Characteristic

Yowie is described as a hominid resembling Himalayan Yeti and North American Sasquatch (The Big Foot). Just like them, Yowie is covered in hair, standing upright and reaches approximately 2 m (6.5 ft) of height.

According to the Yowie searchers, there are two types in Australia: the bigger one,  measuring from 1,3 to 3 m (4.3 to 10 ft) and the smaller one, measuring up to 1,2–1,5 m (4-5 ft). Both of the species (providing that we may use this notion in this case) have really big feet, what may be established based on the witnesses’ stories and the footprint casts.

The witnesses claim that Yowie has a wide and flat nose. There are different opinions concerning the creature’s behavior. Some people declare that it is pavid and timid while others claim that it may be brutal and aggressive.

Yowie
Yowie.

Yowie and Aboriginal Australians

White people learned about Yowie when they came to Australia in the 18th century and met Aboriginals. They told them about an anthropoid that lived in their land and constituted an element of their folklore.

According to Aboriginals, Yowie was a scary creature with a massive body built. Its hands were bigger than humans’ were, he stood upright but was slightly leaned forward. Its head was somewhat hidden between its shoulders what made it look stooped. It had pronounced supraorbital arch like apes. Under the arch, it had deep-set eyes. Males seemed to be more hairy while females owned long, saggy breasts. They had big feet with opposable toes.

These mysterious creatures were wandering through the mountains, mostly in the forests. They were encountered in family groups or single, during hunting. Aboriginals were afraid of them, yet they respected them and even worshipped them for about 1000 years before the Europeans came to the continent. When it comes to Aboriginals, they worship many other creatures, like for example the aforementioned bunyip or the rainbow serpent.

The first official white people’s observation of Yowie took place in 1790. The coverage appeared in the local newspaper in Sydney. In the 18th century in New South Wales and later on almost whole territory, further reports appeared from a person who met a mysterious hominid. In the 19th century, there was an outburst of information about Yowie. Almost every minute people were reporting that they had seen it. The most interesting is that the descriptions varied significantly.

Yowie
Beware, Yowies crosses the road here 😉

Population?

The searchers of Yowie determined that most of those creatures live on the southwest coast of Australia, mainly in the secluded mountain areas. The observations have been made in all Australian states. It is thought-provoking that there are more reported cases of Yowie appearance contemporarily than ever in the past.

Who/What is Yowie?

The most popular theory about Yowie indicates that like in the case of Yeti, it is an enormous anthropoid, which is presumably a survived representative of Gigantopithecus. This ape lived in Asia approximately 9 million years ago and became extinct about 100 000 years ago. According to one of the theories, the reason for the extinction of those mammals was the first people’s excessive hunting. When Gigantopithecus learned about human’s hunting aspirations, they begin to hide in thick forests and habitations where they may have survived until today.

It is unquestionable, that it is a big size that links Gigantopithecus and Yowie the most. Nonetheless, how can we explain the fact that some observers of cryptid happened to see little, hairy creatures? Well, there are definitely such creatures on the Earth. Between 5 million and 500 000 years ago there were a lot of mammals like AustralopithecusHomo habilis (able man) or Homo erectus (upright man)  on the Earth. They were all about 1,2 to 1,4 m and have long dark hair all over their bodies. The scientists claim that a mysterious hominid from Australia is simply one of the aforementioned hominids.

Yowie
10 000 Australian dollars prize for a live Yowie.

Yowie’s scent

People who met Yowie reported that it secreted very strong and unpleasant scent similar to that of rotten eggs.

What can be the reason for this odor? The scientists believe that it is due to a mechanism that operates similarly to the skunks. The fact that Yowie does not always secrete this scent may confirm that theory.

Diet

Yowie’s searchers claim that it is omnivorous. It consumes what is available on a territory where it currently resides. According to many reports, it may strip chicken or other domestic and farm animals.

Once it captures prey, it runs away immediately to the forest. It was observed many times that it may eat fruit or organic waste from the trash cans.

Yowie
Yowie.

Detailed information / size

Yowie

  • Height: 1,2 to 3 m (4 to 10 ft)
  • Weight: 220 to 360 kg (485 to 794 lb)
Yowie
A woman scared by Yowie.

Yowie – curiosities

  • There are about 3000 reports of people who saw Yowie coming from the territory of Blue Mountains, near Sydney.
  • Some observers claim that Yowie has big fangs. According to cryptozoologists, the fangs may be observed in some of the Yowie species.
  • Yowie is believed to have majored moving in the bush, it moves really quickly and often hides behind the trees. It makes it nearly impossible to take a clear photo of Yowie.
  • Yowie sometimes visits Australians, in particular those who built their houses on its territory. It may be angry with that and may hit the door and walls with his hands in the nights.
  • Yowie is very curious about people, especially children.
Yowie
Press coverage of Yowie.

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