Type: Relict Hominid
Height: 7-12 feet
Appearance: Red mouth, sharp claws, brown to reddish fur, canine-like fangs
Abilities: Super strength, Stealth
Known by many names, the Yowie finds its roots in the legends of oral traditions of the aboriginal people of Australia. This hairy humanoid cryptid is said to be the Australian version of Bigfoot. Unlike it’s north American cousin, the Yowie has been touted as one of the most aggressive species of Bigfoot-like creatures. It has been reported being responsible for killing dogs and kangaroos, however many debunk those claims stating that wild dogs or dingoes are the culprit.
Despite its capability for violence, it is also said to be a timid creature and reports of its appearance varies widely. Some have reported it as having a wide and flat nose. Others say it has large fangs. The Yowie is also known to sport brown or red fur. Additionally evidence of its footprints show it as much larger than a humans, however the size and toe count is inconsistent.
Ii the 1870’S account of “indigenous apes” began to appear in Australian publications. In 1882, Henry James McCooey claimed to have seen one of these "apes" on the south coast of New South Wales and offered to catch one for the Australian Museum, As you can imagine, McCooey was unsuccessful in any attempt to snare such a beast. Decades later, another rash of Yowie sightings occurred in 1912, though no physical evidence or bodies were ever found to prove their existence.
Reports of the Australian Yowie continue to this day. Since the 1970’s, Rex Gilroy, a prominent cryptozoologist has a theory of what the Yowie is. Based on the information he has amassed over the years, he believes that the Yowie is related to the North American Bigfoot, also known as the Sasquatch. Additionally he believes it is a relict ancient hominid population, potentially an offshoot of the extinct Homo Erectus species that somehow traversed the seas from Southeast Asia to reach the Australian continent tens of thousands of years ago. If that was the case it would appear that they would have lost their seafaring ways in the eons since they would have arrived in the Outback.
Another theory is that this Bigfoot cousin is a descendant of an ancient Asian ape species known as Gigantopithecus Blacki. This idea is contested however as many dismiss it due to there being lack of evidence that this ancient ape species had the knowhow to use tools, nevermind the capability to traverse an open ocean and cross the Wallace Line which separates Australia from Asia. Homo Erectus on the other hand, just may have had the intelligence to make such a journey. One more theory states that the Yowie could be a bipedal marsupial such as the New Guinian Hulitherium as the known fossil record indicates that there are no native primate species in Australia.
As with most evidence of hominoid cryptids, thus far there is no smoking gun proof of its existence. Most videos or pictures are blurry, or easily proven as a hoax. One such video was taken by Canberra bushwalker, Steve Piper in August, 2000 that appears to show a dark bipedal figure limping through a forest in the Brindabella Mountains region. While the video clearly shows something moving through, it's hard to determine what exactly it is, or if it's just a man in a suit. Other evidence has been gathered, such as a supposed Yowie scream recorded by an American film crew in a remote region near the Queensland/New South Wales border. More recently in 2014, a pair of Yowie enthusiasts claim to have recorded one on an infrared tree cam, and also retrieved fur samples and found large footprints.
Possible Explanations of The Yowie:
• Offshoot population of Homo Erectus or surviving population of Giganopithecus Blacki
• Unknown bipedal marsupial
• Hoax based on Aboriginal folklore
As always, if you have any of your own sightings of the cryptids I post about, or have other encounters with the unexplained & the strange, slide into my DM’s on Instagram or Facebook, or e-mail me at strangeologist@gmail.com