Australia is well-known for its unique flora and fauna that exists nowhere else on Earth, but cryptozoology may also play a role in the island continent’s ecosystem. Legends of the Yowie actually date back to when the native Aboriginals first settled there. Even other Europeans settlers have reported a huge, hairy, ape-like creature lurking in the brush. Stories of “wild men” date back centuries, even millennia, and their legacy continues to live on in the form of historical records and cave drawings that depict a similar being. The animal can be anywhere from child-sized to larger than most humans today. Each region actually has a slightly different variant of the legend to tell. Upon arriving to colonize the land, it was initially called “Yahoo”, from the story of “Gulliver’s Travels”. These reports date back to colonial times in the 18th and 19th centuries, at least. Debates went back and forth over the validity of such animals truly living there. As the 1970s rolled in, the name was modified to “Yowie”. Expert Rex Gilroy played a major role in putting this cryptid on the map when he noticed many similarities to Yeti and Sasquatch. However, Australia has no known primates native to the region. Several theories have emerged as to what these creatures could be, ranging from a modern ancestor of Gigantopithecus to other prehistoric humanoid descendants to even mistaken identity in the form of other known marsupials that call the Outback home. It’s unclear whether Yowie is a beast to be reckoned with or just a gentle giant. It’s not too far-fetched to think that an unknown ape-like hominid still lives there, due to the unique species already known and proven to live there. The jury is still out on this one!
Is there a Bigfoot-like creature in the Land Down Under?
