Today we visit the land down under a vast continent full of dangerous creatures some of myth and legend others very much real...
From Snake's and Croc's to The Yowie and the Bunyip there are many interesting things too talk about when discussing Australia, however this post will be focused primarily on the legend of the bunyip one of Australia's most well know and feared cryptids.
When you mention Australia most people immediately think of The iconic Sydney Opera House or the vast area of land that make up the Australian Outback but this country has so much more to see from pristine National Parks to rain forests and even Opel Mines...however like most thing's in life it also has a darker side beneath the beautiful landscape and city's there may be monster's just around the corner waiting to pounce...
Most myths and legend's have a real life inspiration somewhere in the distant past at least to some extent,and i like to believe the same holds true for most cryptids as well. For instance Dracula by Bram Stoker was inspired in part by Vlad Tempest AKA Vlad the impaler Or Vlad Dracula ..a fierce 15th century Romanian king that fought of the invading Turkish army or Bigfoot the mythical forest giant that has been seen by thousands of people from all over the world but can be linked back
to gigantopithecus the largest know now "extinct" member of the great ape's.
The Bunyip is a carnivorous semi-aquatic cryptid that has been spotted in river's lakes and even creeks all over Australia the word bunyip means devil or evil spirit according to the aboriginal tribes
The modern Bunyip legend seems to have originated in south eastern Australian in New South Wales (then just a colony) in 1818 when a group of explorers discover unusual skeletal remains on the shore of Lake Bathurst two members of the group James Meehan and Hamilton Hume described the remains as a hippopotamus or possibly a manatee but that there as something very different about them The PESA (Philosophy of Education Society of Australia) offered to pay for a small expedition with the hope of returning with a bunyip specimen for further study. Unfortunately mister hume was unable to find the location again and the bones were never recovered.
There are many different descriptions of the bunyip's appearance, the overall body is said too resemble a strange combination of a hippo, seal and dinosaur , others say it is covered in fur with a head like a dog, some say it has smooth reptilian like skin and there are even some sightings describing the creature with a more avian appearance I.E covered in feathers
In his book Bunyip's Australia's folklore of fear author Robert Holden describes 9 different aboriginal variants of this criptid each differing slightly from one region to the next.
According to aboriginal lore the bunyip is said to have a loud bellowing scream/roar and is very formidable in a fight this combined with it's short tempered nature and propensity for hunting in or near water sources make this creature truly terrifying
As European settlements spread across the continent bunyip sightings increased, allegedly in 1845 bunyip fossils were discovered and later reported in the Geelong Advertiser that same article recounted other run ins with the bunyip one unfortunate case was of woman being killed another was of a man that was allegedly attacked still baring scars from the bunyips claws, the man described the bunyip as having a head like an emu and a long bill with stingray like protrusions on ether side of the bill and a body resembling that of an alligator but with thick back legs and somewhat longer front legs each having long claws at the end.
Aside from Biting, Clawing or Drowning it's prey the bunyip has also been said to "hug" it's victims to death with it's longer front legs similar to a python suffocating it's prey..
In some variations the bunyip is smaller in stature in other's it is around 10 to 13 feet in height/length and semi aquatint swimming like a large frog in the water and bipedal well on land.
A escaped convict by the named of William Buckley claimed to have encountered the bunyip on several occasions well living among the Wathaurong people an aboriginal tribe in the outback for many years, he said the animal was covered in grey feathers and could be found in inland lakes and even had supernatural powers capable of causing sickness or famine if angered.
One day in January 1846 a strange skull was found near the Murrumbidgee River that same year a bunyip or possibly a giant platypus was spotted on the banks of the Uriarra River.
The Murrumbidgee Skull is supposedly nothing more then the deformed skull of a calf, but many still argue in favor of it's authenticity and proof of the bunyip.
1851 A bunyip allegedly burst out of the water and killed a man in passing bout on the Challicum Staion creek near Ararat Victoria the bunyip in turn was killed by another man on the boat and its body was outlined on the shore the outline was retraced every year at least as late as 1867 when the site was visited by a man from Moonambel a Mr R.E. John The clerk of petty sessions, who made a messurment and sketch of the outline butting the size of the creature at 21 feet for the main body and 28ft in overall length. He also made a map of the location. the area was eventually turned into grazing land for sheep farmers and the outline is now unfortunately lost to history.
In 1857 Edwin Stockqueler a British artist sketched what he said has a bunyip, stating that the animal was mostly submerged in the water with only it's neck back and shoulders visible.
Sighting still persist to this day, could the bunyip be a supernatural creature haunting the outback or possible a of pre-ice age or even prehistoric animal long since thought to be extinct..
Keep in mind that the Coelacanth a pre historic specials of fish was classified as extinct until a fisherman off the of south Africa caught on in 1938, and other animals like the platypus and silver-back gorilla were thought to be nothing more then local folklore until a live specimen was captured/ observed.
There are undauntedly many new species out there that we have yet to discover, and sadly thousands that have already gone extinct before discovery, and with the rate of human expansion into once untouched land's i think the odds of discovering a creature once thought to be nothing more the myth, still alive and well are pretty high.
So... what are your thought's are these creatures real or imagined? Are there really monsters in the shadows or are cryptids just a manifestation of human fears given form through mythology and legends?
Thank you for reading..
Also you can pick up a copy or Robert Holden the bunyip Australia's folklore of fear on Amazon. though it is very expensive! $200 +
Other reading scores....
The Journal of Cryptozoology Volume 1 -4 ..
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