The Yowie Legend Lives On (+ Photos)

THE YOWIE LEGEND LIVES ON

Fooffstarr delves into Australia’s past to find why our very own Bigfoot might be better off staying hidden…


It was around 1am on a Saturday night, mid 2002. After accompanying a friend to watch his brother play basketball, the three of us began the long walk home. Being fearless teenagers, the choice to shave half an hour off the walk by taking a bush track shortcut was an easy decision to make.

It wasn’t long before we went from fearless to terrified. We were hit by a strong, rancid odor and began to hear a thumping sound in the bush to the side of the track. Not having much choice, we continued on, the way back now further away than our destination.

The thumping stopped, but the smell remained. Then a large, hairy biped, around 7 to 8 feet tall, came into view through the scrub. His eyes reflected the moon and took on an ominous red hue.


This photograph, taken by the Yowie Research Centre team, shows the red hue mentioned above that shines from a Yowie's eyes.

Copyright Dean Harrison - Yowiehunters.com

We broke into a panicked sprint, which provoked the creature to let out a bellow and give chase. Plowing our way forward through the undergrowth, we soon saw the signs of civilization and regrouped under a streetlight at the edge of the bush. Our pursuer stopped just shy of that edge, and kept an eye on us for several minutes before turning and disappearing again into the trees.


The general area of the sighting, in the bush area west of the racecourse. Pets have been reported as 'disappearing' in the streets surrounding this bushland for decades.

This story, un-embellished and vividly clear in my mind, is sadly not fiction. It actually happened, and although the subject matter may be met with a stigma and widespread skepticism, it does not make that experience any less real or scarring.

We had encountered what is known as the Australian Yowie. A supposedly mythical beast, the story of the Yowie has been told by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. Every continent in the world seems to have its own name for the creature, such as Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti and Yeren.

Although mainstream science tends to laugh off reports of ‘hairy men’, there have been tens of thousands of sightings worldwide, with photographic and physical evidence beginning to appear over the last few decades.

My experience with the beast began a life-long interest in cryptozoology, the search for living specimens of extinct or mythological animals. I am a believer in the Yowie, which is probably not something I should admit in public, but for an increasing number of Australians, seeing is believing. Yowie sightings are now at the highest frequency in history. Cryptozoologists and an element of the scientific community have theories about why this might be the case.

To fully understand what a Yowie is and why it has remained hidden for so long, the story must begin in the Dreamtime.

"Dreaming" is also often used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality. For instance, an Indigenous Australian might say that they have Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their "country". However, many Indigenous Australians also refer to the creation time as "The Dreaming". The Dreamtime laid down the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people. "The Dreaming" was the time of creation.

Dreaming stories vary throughout Australia, and there are different versions on the same theme. For example, the story of how the birds got their colours is different in New South Wales and in Western Australia. Stories cover many themes and topics, as there are stories about creation of sacred places, land, people, animals and plants, law and custom. It is a complex network of knowledge, faith, and practices that derive from stories of creation, and which pervades and informs all spiritual and physical aspects of an indigenous Australian's life.

Source

Aboriginal tribes on the east coast of Australia used to tell tales of a beast known as the Yowri. It was a large, bipedal creature with large canine teeth, red eyes and a destructive nature.

They warned their children about it, as it was said that the Yowri would come in the night to take them away if they weren’t careful.



Copyright Dean Harrison - Yowiehunters.com


An ancient Dreamtime tale also mentions a large scale battle between the Koori people on the East coast and an army of the Yowri which unexpectedly emerged from the mountains. The battle was over quickly, the Aboriginals using their spears and boomerangs to drive the weaponless hairy men back into the hills. It is said that this may have began the Yowie’s fear of humans and fed their need to develop the ability to remain undetected and hidden in the Australian bush.

When the fleet arrived in 1788, an effort was made by both white settlers and black natives to communicate with each other. The Aboriginal people attempted to convey to the colonists that there was a creature in the bush that was far more of a threat to them than anything else in the strange, new land. They warned them about the Yowri, but it was simply treated as superstition and the stories were disregarded.

During the 1800’s reports began flooding in to the metropolitan newspapers about farmers having encounters with a second indigenous race, different to the Aborigines. They said that they were threatened by large, hairy men, comparing them to an overgrown orangutan.



Copyright MysteriousAustralia.com

The accounts were treated quite seriously at the time, and their number alone was enough to convince most people that something was really lurking out in the Australian bush.

In 1847, Thomas Savage, an American missionary, discovered a creature in Liberia that he named the Gorilla. When news of this discovery reached Australia, many believed that it was the same creature that had been witnessed here since colonization.

The attitude to the Yowie’s existence has slowly changed since then. The general mindset of the people has become skeptical. This, along with the lack of reports reaching today’s mainstream media, has led to the Yowie, once again, being treated as just another Dreamtime story.

Under the surface, however, many Australians still believe in the creature to an extent. It just isn’t something that is talked about. After my experience with the creature, I, somewhat reservedly, told my family. After the initial joke at my expense and my insistence that it actually happened, it came out that my Uncle had too seen a similar creature on the coast.

He was out gold panning around 20 years ago with a friend along a river, inland from the town of Kempsey, when they were pelted by rocks from the trees. When they got up and went to confront the attackers, what can only be described as a Yowie was fleeing from them through the scrub.

Once my Uncle had told his story, my Father also decided to chime in, telling an account from a fishing trip with his brother some 40 years ago. Although he was not as sure of what they had seen as my Uncle, he distinctly remembered seeing some kind of upright walking creature, brown and covered in hair, traversing a tree line in the mountains. Whatever they saw, it was enough to make them pack up and head home, never to fish in the same area again.

Perhaps sightings of the creature just run in my family. I always thought some of the relatives were a bit feral. But in all seriousness, to have three encounters with a creature that supposedly doesn’t exist in one family tells me that there are far more people seeing this thing then is being reported.

“In Australia, there are almost 10,000 'reported' sightings of our ape-man like creature that is said to walk our forests”

Yowie expert Dean Harrison, the owner and head research at the Australian Yowie Research Association said.

“Can you imagine how may sightings [there are] that still remain 'un-reported'?”

Mr Harrison believes that the spread of urbanization and population growth are the main reasons behind the steady rise in Yowie sightings.

“In the 1900's with people developing road systems and remote townships, they progressed further through the deeply forested areas… [and] as time goes on and more people build deeper in the woods, we expect the sightings and encounters to continue to grow.”

There are still many areas in Australia, however, that have not been explored, let alone built on. Bushland around the bases of the Blue Mountains and Great Dividing Range is so thick in places that an entire colony of Yowie could have been living there for thousands of years without coming into contact with humans. Unlike a lot of believers and skeptics alike that want proof of the creature, I would much rather for it to stay hidden.

Although many would not admit it, the human race is a destructive and thoughtless one. The rarer, more exotic something is the more hunters and poachers will go out of their way to find and kill it. If the Yowie or Bigfoot were proven to exist, it wouldn’t be long before that existence was threatened. They would become the trophy of choice for all immoral big game hunters. Look what has happened to the Gorilla after its discovery. In only around 150 years, they have gone from plentiful to scarce.

It might be in the best interest of both them and humans if we simply keep them as a myth and let them live in peace.

[edit on 9-2-2009 by fooffstarr]

Further Reading

Wikipedia - Yowie

Australian Yowie Research
-Dean Harrison's 'What Is A Yowie?'

Rex Gilroy's Australian Yowie Research Centre

Rex Gilroy's Mysterious Australasia

Cryptomundo - Yowie-related Articles

Cryptozoo - Yowie

Mysterious Australia - The Great Hairy Man




Thanks to all those in RATS who helped me out with changes and additions.

Just so everybody knows, the article is written as such because it was destined to be a feature in a magazine, but sadly the magazine has gone out of print, so now I have the sole rights to the article and can post it on ATS.

[edit on 8-2-2009 by fooffstarr]

This is a fascinating subject, thanks for the good presentation. One of the best opening posts I have seen in a long time here at ATS. Personally I had never heard about this creature before, but you made me want to learn more about it. I will take advantage of the links you provided.



I must also admit that I envy you the sighting you had. That sure will be something to tell the grandkids, right?

This is an excellent thread! A great read.

And I agree that it is perhaps best if the Yowie can be left in peace. We stupid humans have a habit of destroying things... I like the thought that that there are places on this earth where mysterious creatures are living in secrecy, in harmony with nature. It brings a little magic into life.

I wish I could give the OP more that just one flag for this thread.

Thanks for the kind words

ziggystar60

And I agree that it is perhaps best if the Yowie can be left in peace. We stupid humans have a habit of destroying things... I like the thought that that there are places on this earth where mysterious creatures are living in secrecy, in harmony with nature. It brings a little magic into life.

Indeed. As I said in the article, human kind discovering a rare species is like signing it's death warrant. We just, consciously or accidentally, tend to kill everything we touch.


sebarud

Personally I had never heard about this creature before, but you made me want to learn more about it. I will take advantage of the links you provided.

Good to hear. Best reading is probably Dean Harrison's 'What Is A Yowie'?.

He manages to encapsulate history, the legend, modern sightings and scientific evidence into one succinct article.

Has anyone actually tried going on one of the links in the original post. called YowieHunter.com .... its a legalise cannabis website.

reply to post by Liamoville


Which link are we talking about?

YowiehunterS.com is the website for Dean Harrison, which is linked to twice in the Further Reading section.

I won't even mention the link you went to, as it is against ATS T&C I think.

[edit on 9-2-2009 by fooffstarr]

Ahhh my bad, missed off the S. Thanks lol. Talk about one letter making a difference.

Fine thread.

I do believe in this Creature, no reason not to. There are just to many things pointing to there existance. It's the same with Alien beings and as you know most people when having something happen to them they usually don't report or talk about it however, as time passes these subjects are more in the forfront but...........

We are hearing more as each year passes that new animal species are being found so if they could stay hidden why not the Creature.

I believe we know man will always search for new undiscovered species all we can hope is they just get a picture to prove and let them all be.

reply to post by fooffstarr


Why is it that if all of these research groups worldwide have been looking for the same type of animal not one clear picture has ever been found. We've gotten pictures of nocturnal-cats in the past couple years that had never been photographed till this date, one of these cats was the size of a house cat. So in reference to them being able to find a very small nocturnal animal, why couldn't they find an extremely GIAGANTIC one; just seems like either they either have absolute idiots working the field or we're just buying into another hoax. Another fact, the Giant Squid which has now been video taped alive would be statistically harder to find because of it's aquatic area traveled.

The only way I'd see this as being any sort of possibility, is if the primate in question was indead intelligent. Therefor knowing the presense of humans and stategically hiding when they come by. The thought of an animal with this type of thought process is alarming and probably not possible.

[edit on 9-2-2009 by TNT13]

reply to post by observe50


How can you make the statement that you couldn't believe if anyone didn't believe this? I just don't understand your rational at all; if that is the case and I was taking your statement as fact then where is a clear photograph or a DNA sample from this giant beast. If you didn't read my earlier post the Giant Squid would be statistically harder to find then a land based giagantic primate, by amount of area covered. So in short where is the clear cut proof that should be easy to find since they have found statistically harder to find animals.

reply to post by fooffstarr


A very interesting read fooffstarr.

I think for people to truly appreciate how vast the coastal forests and Table Lands are, they would have to spend a great deal of time in these areas.
Combined with a population of just 20 million, Australia remains, to an extent, a big, unexplored place.

Years ago, while driving back to my Dad's 500 acres, in the Northern Table Lands, we both spotted a very large, black, feline-like creature, about the size of a half-grown Jaguar. I thought my Dad was asleep, so I didn't say anything. The next thing, he says: "did you see that????"


Australia is a big place

The thing that always puzzles me about the whole Bigfoot,Sasquatch,Yowie,Yeti thing is that nearly every country and certainly every continent have their own version but yet we haven't caught one. I wonder if maybe of the above is real and maybe myth has spread hence how theres so many different version but who knows which one is true, hell, all of them could be.

FOOFFSTARR, are you related to, associated with or are you in fact Rex Gilroy??

I'm with TNT13. Why haven't they found and captured one.??

Mckyle, you're right, Australia is a big place (I've lived here all my life with the exception of three years in Alaska, but the USA is bigger in land mass and has more sightings of Bigfoot.

The Australian sightings seem to be near mountain terrain and the sighters seem to be able to pinpoint fairly closely where they were when thye saw what they saw but, there's never any tracking sign (what a hunter tracker would use), just a foot print or two.

I believe in the panther-like creature you mention. Where was your father's property.?? I've done more tracking on the New England Tablelands around Emmaville, Torrinton, Deepwater, Glen Innes where it's freezing *rse cold in Summer.

I'll reserve my decision on the sightings of Yowies. I find it hard to believe that after all these sightings all over the world with accompanying smells/aromas of this beast not forgetting it's reported size and the damage it would do when fleeing or moving about (let's not forget the track marks it'd leave), no professional hunter or tracker hasn't tracked one down. Have a think about all the sophisticated heat seeking gear available these days and not one has been located anywhere in the world for display or research.

I do believe in the panther out Emmaville way in NSW. I went with a pro tracker hunter some time back and we camped out there for a couple of weeks with the soul purpose of finding evidence of this thing what ever it is and tracked whatever was at that time taking the sheep and lambs.

Plenty of sign but no real sightings. Obvious as hell it's bigger than any feral cat I've seen considering I've seen feral cats as big as Labrador dogs in the bush. They mutate as they go through their generations and the breeding adjusts to the surroundings but they're not smart.

This thing was smart. The pro tracker was a former Brown bear hunter/guide from Alaska and said that what ever the cat or animal was, it was as smart as a Griz. He said after that it was almost doing what brown bears do when you hunt them, They hunt you.

He said at the time that whatever we were tracking, either there were a few of them like a family or it was one displaying the behavior of something tracking/hunting us.

But, there again, something as cunning and sleek as a panther will leave sign but everyone out there are trying to tell me otherwise (or soon will be) that something as reportedly primitive, large, cumbersome, loud and smelly as a Bigfoot doesn't leave any trace when people go back the the scene of sightings to look for evidence.


All we've got is alleged plaster casts of alleged big feet prints.


Ask Rex Gilroy how many plaster casts he's got.

Ask him about the wire and steel foot frame it was suggested by a now defunct Sydney Newspaper (The Sunday Mirror) that he allegedly owned and, what a great imprint it'd make in the dirt if stood on by a human.
Hmmmmmmm????????

Maybe one day, I'll get this
edit feature" right in here.

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that was a great read, it definitely got my imagination working overtime!! personally i think that there has to be something to all of these legends and sightings. here's to hoping that we get one GOOD picture of one of these elusive creatures....unfortunately i agree with you fooffstarr, if their existence is proven we will likely wipe them out

BUSH FIRES.......
The legend of Yowie must hold truths, especially within koori culture.
It is an awesome cryptoid, like thr Yeti etc. that most probably holds wisdom.
Unfortunately as we see as Victria (Aus) burns, as it does every 10-20 yrs, it would be remarkable if a Yowie could survive these fires, and if one did, the media attention on the fires may actually catch proof.
Aussis unique mammels have a hard time surving these fires. Koalas in many regions on Victoria go from almost extinct to "pests", like kangeroos do.
Wombats live in holes, but still suffocate when fires burn at this intensity, for days on end.
Australia is like The Galapagos in some ways. It may be huge, but the ecosystems are unique and self controlling.
Check the pics on the web of afraid koalas finding refuge in domestic homes.
They are cute, but as every aussi knows, never touch a wild wonbat, possum, koala, roo etc.
Even with the urbanisation like Melbourne (fasest spreading city on earth for 10 yrs now I believe), a lot of these animals do become attracted to urban areas because it's like going to McDonalds for them.
My point is I love the Yowie, I believe he was true in recent times............but if he was he is probably not no longer.
That said areas like the Blue Mountains and The Ranges are so huge and unpopulated that anything is possible.
A lot of people who have never traveled the country can't comprehend the "space" in Aus.
U can drive 20 mins from Sydney or Melb and look as far as the eye can see at undiscovered bushland.
Aus is an amazing country, And then there is the 90 prcent red hot desert that makes The Sahara look hospitable.
My thoughts are with Victorians today. They have seen "hell on earth".
No conspiracy involved, no strange weather. Aus is a unique land.
Any aussies reading this thread, I hope everything is ok after the horrifying fires.
Take Care.

reply to post by stockwhip


Hi Stockwhip

Not sure how well you know the area, but it was somewhere along the Nundle Forest Rd. Between Terrible Billy State Forest and Nundle State Forest.

My Dad's property is in Niangala, sits atop the range that overlooks the dam close to Ogunbil.

I hope that helps Feel free to message me, or email me anytime. I am a noob, so I'm not sure about the rules for posting my address, so my apologies if this is a no-no : [email protected]



[edit on 9-2-2009 by mckyle]

reply to post by serpentine


Hi Serpentine,

A pretty accurate synopsis of our 'sunburnt country' and thank you for your kind words re: the bushfires

Thanks for the replies

observe50

I do believe in this Creature, no reason not to. There are just to many things pointing to there existance. It's the same with Alien beings and as you know most people when having something happen to them they usually don't report or talk about it however, as time passes these subjects are more in the forfront but...........

We are hearing more as each year passes that new animal species are being found so if they could stay hidden why not the Creature.

Indeed.

As I said in the article, and in my research thread earlier last year, I was shocked by the response I got when I mentioned the Yowie.

The vast, and I mean vast, majority of people I spoke to believed in it's existence, and this area is a fairly straight-edge, semi-rural tourist hot spot. I really thought the skeptic part of our society would dominate here, but I guess not.

I was going to do a video interview with our local Aboriginal Elder, but he has a been a bit incognito the past few months. On some kind of personal journey and is pretty much unreachable. Maybe in the future.



TNT13

The only way I'd see this as being any sort of possibility, is if the primate in question was indead intelligent. Therefor knowing the presense of humans and stategically hiding when they come by. The thought of an animal with this type of thought process is alarming and probably not possible.

From what I can gather, the Yowie is fairly intelligent.

Somewhere between that of a Chimp and a Human.

Researchers suggest it may be the remaining numbers of Gigantopithicus, an upright walking primate that lived in the Australasian region up to around 10,000 years ago.

They were intelligent enough to use primitive tools etc. so It wouldn't surprise me if a group hadn't been slowly pushed back into a heavily forested area of the Blue Mountains by the East Coast Aboriginal tribes.

It's only a theory, but It's the best we've got.



mckyle

I think for people to truly appreciate how vast the coastal forests and Table Lands are, they would have to spend a great deal of time in these areas.
Combined with a population of just 20 million, Australia remains, to an extent, a big, unexplored place.

Years ago, while driving back to my Dad's 500 acres, in the Northern Table Lands, we both spotted a very large, black, feline-like creature, about the size of a half-grown Jaguar. I thought my Dad was asleep, so I didn't say anything. The next thing, he says: "did you see that????"


Australia is a big place

So you spotted one of our infamous big cats? Very nice.

I known a woman who's father fired shots at a large black cat on their property several months ago. This property was only a few minutes from the local town centre also, so these cats are getting less afraid of humans.

Proof enough for anyone saying that the Yowie couldn't hide here in Australia is the Woolemia Pine.

It was discovered in one of these remote Blue Mountains valleys just over a decade ago. It dates back over, get this 200 MILLION years.

So something over 200 million years old managed to hide in the Australian bush for over 200 years of colonization, and 40,000 years of Aboriginal society before that.

Liamoville

The thing that always puzzles me about the whole Bigfoot,Sasquatch,Yowie,Yeti thing is that nearly every country and certainly every continent have their own version but yet we haven't caught one. I wonder if maybe of the above is real and maybe myth has spread hence how theres so many different version but who knows which one is true, hell, all of them could be.

The fact that they are seen all over the world, I think, only strengthens their existence in the eyes of science.

The legends of 'hairy men' go back, in most of the above mentioned cases, to before these cultures could communicate with each other.

Eg. The Aboriginals didn't tell the Native Americans about Sasquatch.

So how likely is it that all these cultures came up with a nearly identical beast half a world away?



stockwhip

FOOFFSTARR, are you related to, associated with or are you in fact Rex Gilroy??

I'm with TNT13. Why haven't they found and captured one.??

Mckyle, you're right, Australia is a big place (I've lived here all my life with the exception of three years in Alaska, but the USA is bigger in land mass and has more sightings of Bigfoot.

I'll reserve my decision on the sightings of Yowies. I find it hard to believe that after all these sightings all over the world with accompanying smells/aromas of this beast not forgetting it's reported size and the damage it would do when fleeing or moving about (let's not forget the track marks it'd leave), no professional hunter or tracker hasn't tracked one down. Have a think about all the sophisticated heat seeking gear available these days and not one has been located anywhere in the world for display or research.

Firstly, I don't know Rex, and last I checked, I'm not him.

The big factor you've missed there is population.

America has more bigfoot sightings, yes, but their population dwarfs ours and their cities have encroached so much further into nature than we have.

We are still a young country, and there is more unexplored land in Australia than explored.

As far as professional hunters not tagging a Bigfoot, as I said previously, I think they are fairly intelligent creatures.

They know their area far better than any hunter and with their animal senses can probably sense us humans coming from miles away and easily get away.

Even with their size, they have been reported to move with a strange grace when moving through the bush.



serpentine

Any aussies reading this thread, I hope everything is ok after the horrifying fires.
Take Care.

Absolutely.

Its now become our worst peace-time disaster. I hope all those still in the area get themselves to safety before another ####ing firebug starts something else.