| Yowie (cryptid) |
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In a modern context, Yowie is the generic (and somewhat affectionate) term for the unidentified hominid reputed to lurk in the Australian wilderness. It is, in other words, an Australian Cryptid analogous to the Himalayan Yeti and the North American Bigfoot . Australian Cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy has attempted to popularise the scientific term ''Gigantopithecus australis'' for the creature (understandably without support from the Australian scientific community), based on his theory that they comprise a relic population of the extinct ape Gigantopithecus . Rather confusingly, ''Yowie'' (or "Yowie-Whowie") is also the name of a completely different Mythological Character in native Australian Aboriginal folklore. This version of the Yowie is said to be a bizarre, hybrid beast resembling a cross between a lizard and an ant. It emerges from the ground at night to eat whatever it can find, including humans. This creature's characteristics and legend are sometimes interchangeable with those of the Bunyip . The origin of the term "Yowie" in the context of unidentified hominids is unclear. Some presume that it simply arose through confusion with the aforementioned aboriginal legend. On the other hand, Jonathan Swift 's Yahoo s from Gulliver's Travels are sometimes cited as a source. The word "Yowie" was also apparently a slang term for the Orang-utan in Victorian England. SIGHTINGS AND REPORTS Reports of ape-like Yowies go back as far as the 18th Century. The mid to late 19th Century saw a wealth of sightings, most describing a large, gorilla-like creature (albeit usually bipedal), which lived in remote mountainous or forested regions. Reports have continued to the present day with the trail of evidence following the pattern familiar to most unidentified hominids around the world- i.e. eyewitness accounts, mysterious footprints of hotly-disputed origin, and a frustrating lack of conclusive proof. Researchers have likewise scoured Australian Aboriginal mythology for evidence of the ape-like Yowie (as oppose to the hybrid creature described above), but definitive references to anything remotely similar are few and far between. YOWIE TOYS From the mythology surrounding the Australian Yowies, a line of toys and children's products have arisen. Invented by Bryce Courtenay and Geoff Piker, they were similar to Kinder Surprise s in that they are basically a chocolate shell around a plastic capsule, with a toy inside. Unlike Kinder Surprises, the toy is usually an Australian or New Zealand animal, with a leaflet with educational facts and a picture of the animal. There have been several series of Yowie toys. The first were just animals, with limited edition Yowie pencil toppers in some of them. Later, Grumkin pencil toppers also appeared. In 2001 there was a radical departure from the usual kind of Yowies. In conjunction with an Australian Museum exhibit called The Lost Kingdoms, new yowies came out. Instead of endangered animals, these had extinct animals in them, along with the modern koala and platypus. The yowies also got overhauls. The wrappers of the Lost Kingdom yowies could be distinguished by the sign and shovel being held in their paws. The Yowies, according to the story, are protectors of the various environments of Gondwana. Their names were Rumble ( Desert s), Boof ( Rainforest s and Mountain s), Crag ( Swamp s and Mangrove s), Ditty ( Bushland ), Nap ( Gum Forest s) and Squish ( River s and waterways, possibly the ocean as well). The Yowies each had a respective enemy, called a Grumkin, representing the damage being done to it by careless humans. The Grumkins were Munch (careless building, enemy of Rumble), Blob ( Pollution , enemy of Crag), Ooz (also pollution, enemy of Squish), Spark (careless firelighting, enemy of Nap), Slob (litter, enemy of Ditty) and Chomp the Tiger Toothed Tree Chomper (deforestation, enemy of Boof). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |