View source for Yowie

{{short description|Ape-like mythical creature from Australian folklore}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|image = Yowie-statue-Kilcoy-Queensland.JPG
|caption = Statue of a yowie in [[Kilcoy, Queensland]], [[Australia]]
|name = Yowie
|Country = Australia
|Region = [[Great Dividing Range]]<br/>[[Northern Territory]]<br/>[[Australian Capital Territory]]<br/>[[South Australia]]<br/>[[Western Australia]]<br/>[[New South Wales]]<br/>[[Queensland]]<br/>[[Victoria (state)|Victoria]]
}}

The '''Yowie''' is one of several names for an [[Australia]]n [[folklore]] entity that is reputed to live in the [[Outback]]. The creature has origins in Aboriginal oral history.

==Etymology and Regional Names==

* In parts of [[Queensland]], it is known as a ''Quinkin'' (or as a type of [[Quinkan rock art|Quinkin]]), and as ''joogabinna.''{{sfn|Healy|Cropper|2006}} 
* In parts of [[New South Wales]], it is referred to by various names, including ''Ghindaring'', ''Jurrawarra'', ''Myngawin'', ''Puttikan'', ''Doolaga'', ''Gulaga'' and ''Thoolagal''.{{sfn|Healy|Cropper|2006}} 
* Other recorded names for similar entities include, ''Noocoonah'', ''Wawee'', ''Pangkarlangu'', ''Jimbra'' and ''Tjangara''.{{sfn|Healy|Cropper|2006}}<ref name="Graham1977">{{cite book|title=The Hairy Man of South Eastern Australia|year=1977|isbn=0908127006|first=Graham C.|last=Joyner|publisher=G.C. Joyner }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Layers of significance – Reconciliation Place and the Acton Peninsula, Canberra|url=http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/NMA_sites_memory_session3_20092608.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813001003/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/NMA_sites_memory_session3_20092608.html|archive-date=13 August 2014|publisher=National Museum of Australia|date=28 August 2009}}</ref> Legends of Yowie-type creatures appear in [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australian]] legends, particularly in the eastern Australian states.{{sfn|Healy|Cropper|2006|p=6}}

==Description and Reported Characteristics==
[[File:Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales - Plate 7 A Yaroma rushed out and swallowed the Man.jpg|thumb|Yaroma swallowing a man (1907 drawing)]]
The Yowie is typically described as a [[bipedal]], hairy, and [[ape]]-like creature, standing upright at between {{cvt|2.1|m}} and {{cvt|3.6|m}}.<ref name=Catalyst2002>{{cite web|title=Yowie|url=http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s581072.htm|work=Catalyst|publisher=ABC Television|archive-date=28 October 2013|first=Paul|last=Willis|date=13 June 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028124426/http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s581072.htm}}</ref> Reports of Yowie footprints describe them as significantly larger than a human's,<ref name=Gilroy1980>{{cite web|title=Why Yowies are Fair Dinkum|url=http://www.mysteriousaustralia.com/yowies_fair_dinkum.html|publisher=Australasian Post|archive-date=17 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017085313/http://www.mysteriousaustralia.com/yowies_fair_dinkum.html|first=Rex|last=Gilroy|date=7 August 1980}}</ref> but alleged Yowie tracks are inconsistent in shape and toe number.{{sfn|Clark|2012|p=227}}{{sfn|Emmer|2010|p=83}} The Yowie's nose is described as wide and flat.<ref name=SHealy2010/>{{sfn|Tim the Yowie Man|2001|pp=41–48}}

Descriptions of the Yowie's behavior vary; some accounts depict the Yowie as timid and reclusive,  while others suggest it can be violent or aggressive.<ref name=Gilroy1980/><ref name=NTNewsApril2009/>

==Origins of the term==
The exact origin of the name "Yowie" in reference to Australian hominid legends is uncertain. The term was documented in 1875 among the [[Gamilaraay]]  people by Rev. William Ridley in ''Kámilarói and Other Australian Languages'', where "Yō-wī"{{efn|''yawi'' in modern orthography<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dnathan.com/gaman/browse.php?GR=Y&YR=Y&YY=Y&fl=y&view=max| title=Gaman guladha Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay, Yuwaalayaay }}</ref>}} was described as a spirit that roams the earth at night.<ref name="Ridley1875">{{cite book |last1=Ridley |first1=William |title=Kámilarói, and other Australian languages |date=1875 |publisher=Sydney, N.S.W., T. Richards, government printer |page=138 |url=https://archive.org/details/kmilariother00ridlrich/page/138}}</ref>

Some researchers suggest that the term arose through Aboriginal legends of the "Yahoo". Nineteenth century European accounts describe the creature and deem it the Yahoo, specifically the entry of Robert Holden, who described the it saying "The natives of Australia... believe in... [the] Yahoo."<ref>{{citation |title=Superstitions of the Australian Aborigines:The Yahoo |date=February 1842 |journal=Australian and New Zealand Monthly Magazine |volume=1 |issue=2}}, cited in {{harvnb|Holden|2001|p=47}}</ref>

Another story about the terms origins come from an Aboriginal source. One account from Old Bungaree, a Gunedah elder, stating that the Yahoo was an ancient race that once inhabited Australia. He describes conflicts between Yahoos and Aboriginal people in an event called [[Dreamtime]], claiming that the latter usually overpowered them, although the Yahoo is said to be a fast runner.<ref name="Telfer1980">{{cite book |last1=Telfer |first1=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EacvAAAAMAAJ&q=%22always%20made%20away%22 |title=The Wallabadah Manuscript: The Early History of the Northern District of New South Wales : Recollections of the Early Days |publisher=New South Wales University Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-86840-168-3 |page=55}}</ref>

Additionally, some scholars propose that the Yowie legend may have been influenced by European folklore. Possible sources for this claim include:

* [[Jonathan Swift]]'s [[Yahoo (Gulliver's Travels)|yahoo]]s from ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'', depicted as primitive, bestial humanoids.*
* European myths of hairy [[wild men]], describing hairy, ape-like beings
* Early 19th century public excitement with captive orangutans for display, which sparked curiosity about large primates{{sfn|Holden|2001|pp=39–49}}

==Historical Sightings==
[[File:Bombala Yowie.jpg|thumb|The "Bombala Anthropoid", seen by Charles Harper in southeast Australia in 1912. This fanciful drawing is based on his description in an interview in the ''Sidney Sun'': "A huge man-like animal stood erect not 20 yards from the fire, growling, grimacing, and thumping his breast with his huge hand-like paws."<ref>https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-daily-mail/20150918/282235189450669?srsltid=AfmBOoo1mXs3ubw3xyVnylyGtE67TJsmspvWB3vSZn1Oj4iiWGjXWaS5</ref>]]

===Early Reports (19th Century)===
A 1987 column in ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' columnist [[Margaret Jones (journalist)|Margaret Jones]] suggest that the first reported Yowie sighting in Australian occurred as early as 1795.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Margaret |author-link=Margaret Jones (journalist) |date=31 July 1987 |title=It's spot the yowie time again |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rytWAAAAIBAJ&pg=4781,11390386&dq=yowie&hl=en |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=15}}</ref>

By the 1850s, accounts of "Indigenous Apes" appeared in the ''Australian Town and Country Journal.'' The earliest account in November 1876 asked readers; "Who has not heard, from the earliest settlement of the colony, the blacks speaking of some unearthly animal or inhuman creature&nbsp;... namely the Yahoo-Devil Devil, or hairy man of the wood&nbsp;..."<ref>{{citation|title=Milburn Creek|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70605854|journal=Australian Town and Country Journal|date=18 November 1876|page=811}}, cited in {{harvnb|Holden|2001|p=70}}</ref>

In 1882, amateur naturalist Henry James McCooey claimed to have seen an "indigenous ape" on the New South Wales south coast, between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. He described the creature as tailless, covered in long black hair, with reddish fur around the throat and chest. He estimated its height at nearly five feet tall when standing upright and noted that its small, restless eyes were partially obscured by matted hair. McCooey claimed to have thrown a stone at the creature, prompting it to flee.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/12/09/4145054.htm|title=Batemans Bay yowie sighting an Australian first|first=Ian|last=Campbell|date=9 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110000835/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/12/09/4145054.htm|archive-date=10 January 2015|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=M'Cooey |first=H.J. |title=The Naturalist: Australian Apes |date=9 December 1882 |journal=Australian Town and Country Journal |page=747 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70993856}}, cited in {{harvnb|Holden|2001|pp=75}}</ref>

McCooey offered to capture an ape for the [[Australian Museum]] for a reward £40. According to researcher Robert Holden, a second outbreak of reported ape sightings appeared in 1912.{{sfn|Holden|2001|p=76}}

The Yowie also appeared in Australina folklore and literature, including [[Donald Friend]]'s ''Hillendiana'', a collection of writings about the goldfields near [[Hill End, New South Wales|Hill End]], New South Wales, where it was described as species of [[bunyip]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Friend |first=Donald (1915–1989)|author-link=Donald Friend|title=A collection of Hillendiana: comprising vast numbers of facts and a considerable amount of fiction concerning the goldfield of Hillend and environs|year=1956|publisher= Ure Smith |location=Sydney}}</ref>  Holden also cites the appearance of the Yowie's presence in a number of Australian tall stories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.{{sfn|Holden|2001|pp=77–79}}

===20 and 21st Century Sightings===
Modern reports of the Yowie continue, often associated with crypozoology investigations.

One such case involved  "Top End Yowie investigator" Andrew McGinn, the death and mutilation of a pet dog near Darwin could have been the result of an attack by the mythological Yowie.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/804059/yowie-may-have-killed-puppy|title=Yowie may have killed puppy|publisher=[[9news.com.au]]|date=21 April 2009|access-date=21 April 2009|archive-date=4 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004155514/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/804059/yowie-may-have-killed-puppy}}</ref>

==Regional Sightings==
=== Northern Territory ===
In the late 1990s, several reports of Yowie sightings emerged in the area around [[Acacia Hills, Northern Territory|Acacia Hills]].<ref name=NTNewsApril2009>{{cite web|title=Dog killed by Yowie|url=http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/04/21/46275_ntnews.html|newspaper=NT News|access-date=17 March 2013|first=Matt|last=Cunningham|date=21 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513123549/http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/04/21/46275_ntnews.html|archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref>

* 1997: Mango farmer Katrina Tucker claimed she had been having been just metres away from a hairy humanoid creature on her property.<ref name="NTNewsApril2009" /> Photographs of the large footprint were collected at the time.<ref name="NTNewsApril2009" />

=== New South Wales ===
Accounts of Yowie sightings in New South Wales include:
* 1977:  ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' reported that residents on Oxley Island, near [[Taree]], recently heard unexplained screaming noises at night. Cryptozoologist [[Rex Gilroy]] planned to search for the mythological Yowie.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 1977 |title=Missing link sought in mystery |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VAxiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1335,3843195&dq=yowie&hl=en |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>
* 1994: [[Tim the Yowie Man]] claimed to have seen a Yowie in the [[Brindabella Range]]s.{{sfn|Tim the Yowie Man|2001|pp=41–48}}<ref name="TelegraphJun2012">{{cite web |last=Lion |first=Patrick |date=4 June 2012 |title=Panthers, yowie men and a headless roo, the real X-files of New South Wales |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/panthers-yowie-men-and-a-headless-roo-states-real-x-files/story-e6freuy9-1226381978142 |access-date=17 March 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=Sydney}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Montgomery |first=JG |title=WYRD–A Personal Journey into the Beliefs and Philosophies of the Known and Unknown |date=June 2014 |publisher=CFZ Press |author-link=JG Montgomery}}</ref>
* 1996: A couple from Newcastle, while driving on a holiday, claim to have seen a shaggy, upright creature between [[Braidwood, New South Wales|Braidwood]] and the coast, describing it as at leas 2.1 metres tall, with disproportionately long arms and no neck.<ref name="NewcastleHerald2010">{{cite web |last=Corbett |first=Jeff |date=30 November 2010 |title=In search of yowies |url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/464273/in-search-of-yowies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224104845/http://www.theherald.com.au/story/464273/in-search-of-yowies/ |archive-date=24 December 2013 |access-date=17 March 2013 |work=Newcastle Herald}}</ref>
* 2000: a Canberra bushwalker, Steve Piper, filmed an unknown bipedal beast in the Brindabella Mountains. This footage is known as the 'Piper Film'.{{sfn|Tim the Yowie Man|2001|pp=41–48}}
* 2011: a witness reported to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service seeing a Yowie in the Blue Mountains at [[Springwood, New South Wales|Springwood]]. The witness had filmed the creature, and taken photographs of its footprints.<ref name="TelegraphJun2012" />
* 2012: an American television crew claimed to have recorded audio of a Yowie in a remote region on the NSW–Queensland border.<ref name="TelegraphJun2012" /><ref name="CourierMailMay2012">{{cite news |last=Shearer |first=Geoff |date=26 May 2012 |title=Animal Planet TV crew capture audio they believe proves existence of yowies |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/sci-tech/animal-planet-tv-crew-capture-audio-they-believe-proves-existence-of-yowies-in-forests-on-qld-and-nsw-border/story-fn5iztw3-1226367525604 |access-date=17 March 2013 |newspaper=The Courier-Mail}}</ref>
* 2013: a Lismore resident and music videographer claimed to have seen a Yowie just north of [[Bexhill, New South Wales|Bexhill]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Jamie |date=15 June 2013 |title=Yowie sighted at Bexhill – witness asks to stay anonymous |url=http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/call-it-what-you-will-a-yeren-a-yeti-or-a-yowie-bu/1908497/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819074211/http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/call-it-what-you-will-a-yeren-a-yeti-or-a-yowie-bu/1908497/ |archive-date=19 August 2013 |newspaper=The Northern Star |publisher=APN Australian Regional Media}}</ref>

In the mid-1970s, the [[Queanbeyan]] Festival Board and 2CA offered a [[AU$]]200,000 reward for the capture and presentation of a Yowie. The reward remains unclaimed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tim the Yowie Man |date=20 September 2013 |title=Respect the lore |url=http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/yowie-man/respect-the-lore-20130919-2u2nf.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127053706/http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/yowie-man/respect-the-lore-20130919-2u2nf.html |archive-date=27 November 2013 |access-date=11 October 2013 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=26 October 1976 |title=Home-made 'Yowie' |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110832132 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017115700/http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/110832132 |archive-date=17 October 2013 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |page=7}}</ref>

=== Queensland ===
The [[Springbrook, Queensland|Springbrook]] region in south-east Queensland has had more Yowie reports than anywhere else in Australia.{{sfn|Tim the Yowie Man|2001|pp=41–48}}

* 1977: Former Queensland Senator [[Bill O'Chee]] reported to the ''[[Gold Coast Bulletin]]'' that he had seen a Yowie while on a school trip in Springbrook.<ref name="SHealy2010">{{cite news|title=New film needs beast of a man to be the next yowie|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/sunday-mail/new-film-needs-beast-of-a-man-to-be-the-next-yowie/story-e6frep2f-1225860967769|newspaper=The Sunday mail|location=Queensland|access-date=18 March 2013|first=Samantha|last=Healy|date=2 May 2010}}</ref>{{sfn|Tim the Yowie Man|2001|pp=41–48}} O'Chee compared the creature to [[Chewbacca]] from ''[[Star Wars]]''.{{sfn|Clark|2012|pp=226–227}} He told reporters that the creature he saw had been over three metres tall.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bill-ochee-becomes-brisbane-times-blogger-20140217-32w3p.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317124311/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bill-ochee-becomes-brisbane-times-blogger-20140217-32w3p.html|archive-date=17 March 2014|date=17 February 2014|title=Bill O'Chee becomes Brisbane Times blogger|newspaper=Brisbane Times}}</ref>
* 2001: The Mulgowie Yowie was last reported as having been seen.<ref name="QTJun2013">{{cite news|title=Legend of elusive yowie living on in Mulgowie|url=http://www.qt.com.au/news/legend-of-elusive-yowie-living-on-in-mulgowie/1890848/|newspaper=The Queensland Times|location=Queensland|publisher=APN Australian Regional Media|first=Joel|last=Gould|date=1 June 2013|archive-date=21 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021131155/http://www.qt.com.au/news/legend-of-elusive-yowie-living-on-in-mulgowie/1890848/}}</ref>
* 2014: Two Yowie researchers claimed to have filmed a Yowie in South Queensland using an infrared tree camera. They also collected fur samples and found large footprints.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/new-sightings-in-queensland-of-the-mythical-yowie-have-sparked-a-spat-between-rival-hunters/story-fnihsrf2-1227094998712|newspaper=The Courier Mail|first1=Kathleen|last1=Donaghey|first2=Connor|last2=O'Brien|title=New 'sightings' in Queensland of the mythical Yowie have sparked a spat between rival hunters |date=19 October 2014}}</ref> Later that year, a Gympie man told media he had encountered Yowies on several occasions, including conversing with, and teaching some English to, a very large male Yowie in the bush north-east of [[Gympie]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/gympie-man-tells-of-yowie-encounter-queensland/2393323/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019025139/http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/gympie-man-tells-of-yowie-encounter-queensland/2393323/|archive-date=19 October 2014|title=Yowies: 'they're out there I've spoken with them'|date=20 September 2014|newspaper=The Gympie Times}}</ref> and several people in Port Douglas claimed to have seen Yowies, near Mowbray and at the Rocky Point range.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cairnspost.com.au/port-douglas-on-yowie-watch-after-close-encounters-with-strange-beasts/story-fnnjfpar-1227091841926|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226040228/http://www.cairnspost.com.au/port-douglas-on-yowie-watch-after-close-encounters-with-strange-beasts/story-fnnjfpar-1227091841926|first=Angelique|last=Patterson|newspaper=The Cairns Post|date=16 October 2014|title=Port Douglas on yowie watch after close encounters with strange beasts|archive-date=26 December 2014 }}</ref>

===Australian Capital Territory===

* 2010: A Canberra man said he saw a " juvenile covered in hair, with long arms trying to steal his car" in his garage. A friend later told him it could be an aboriginal person.<ref name="SunHeraldSun2010">{{cite web |last=Crick |first=Ritchie |date=26 September 2010 |title=The truth is out there |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-truth-is-out-there/story-e6frf92f-1225929427680 |access-date=17 March 2013 |publisher=Sunday Herald Sun}}</ref>

==Prominent Yowie Researchers and Enthusiasts==
=== Rex Gilroy ===
Since the mid-1970s, paranormal enthusiast and self-described cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy attempted to popularize the Yowie legend.{{sfn|Gilroy|2001}}<ref>{{citation |last=Bowen |first=Jill |title=It's huge, hairy and from Cape York to Tasmania the monster Yowie prowls |date=15 December 1976 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54670677 |publisher=The Australian Women's Weekly}}</ref>{{sfn|Healy|Cropper|2006|p=13}} He claimed to have collected over 3,000 reports of Yowie encounters and theorized that they represented a relict population of extinct apes or early Homo species.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shuker |first=Karl P. N. |author-link=Karl Shuker |title=In search of prehistoric animals; Do giant extinct creatures still exist? |publisher=Blanchford |year=1995 |isbn=0-7137-2469-2 |edition=1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/insearchofprehis00shuk/page/189 189] |chapter=The Alien Zoo |quote=Rex Gilroy... collected over 3,000 sightings of a giant hairy creature sighted across the continent. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/insearchofprehis00shuk/page/189 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="GilroyPotts2012">{{cite web |last=Potts |first=Andrew |date=27 November 2012 |title=Yowie seeker, 68, has something to prove |url=http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2012/11/27/442534_gold-coast-news.html |access-date=18 March 2013 |publisher=GoldCoast.com.au}}</ref>

Rex Gilroy believed that the Yowie is related to the North American Bigfoot.<ref name="HuffingtonApr2013">{{cite web|title=The Search For Bigfoot: Is Bigfoot Real? |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-meyer/bigfoot_b_3070322.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=12 April 2013|access-date=6 May 2013}}</ref> Along with his partner Heather Gilroy, he spent fifty years amassing his Yowie collection.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/07/rex-gilroy-yowie-hunter|date=7 October 2013|title=Rex Gilroy: Yowie Hunter|publisher=Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)|access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref>

Rex Gilroy died in April 2023.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8157042/yowie-hunter-leaves-mysterious-legacy/|date=13 April 2023|title=The mysterious legacy of man who hunted ancient, rare and possibly mythical creatures|work=The Canberra Times|access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref>

=== Tim the Yowie Man ===
Tim the Yowie Man is a published author who claims to have seen a Yowie in the [[Brindabella Ranges]] in 1994.<ref name="TelegraphJun2012" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.qt.com.au/news/yowie-not-to-blame-for-stock-losses/1890819/|newspaper=The Queensland Times|title=Yowie not to blame for stock losses|last=Gould|first=Joel|date=1 June 2013|access-date=19 October 2013}}</ref> Since then, Tim the Yowie Man has investigated Yowie sightings and other paranormal phenomena.<ref name="2009 The Australian">{{cite web|title=I was rugby-tackled by a Yowie, man claims|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/i-was-rugby-tackled-by-a-yowie-man-claims/story-fn3dxity-1225716419190|publisher=The Australian|access-date=18 April 2013|date=26 May 2009}}</ref>

He also writes a regular column in Australian newspapers ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' and ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''. In 2004, Tim the Yowie Man won a legal case against [[Cadbury]], a popular British confectionery company.<ref name="CT Tim the Yowie Man">{{cite news|title=Tim the Yowie Man licks chocolate giant in court|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=15 December 2004}}</ref> Cadbury had claimed that his moniker was too similar to their range of Yowie confectionery.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-09-14/yowie-man-chocolate-maker-go-head-to-head/2043358|date=14 September 2004|title=Yowie Man, chocolate maker go head-to-head|publisher=ABC Canberra|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012111227/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-09-14/yowie-man-chocolate-maker-go-head-to-head/2043358|archive-date=12 October 2013}}</ref>

===Gary Opit===
ABC Local Radio wildlife programmer and environmental scientist.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/04/22/3989876.htm?site=sunshine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424003728/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/04/22/3989876.htm?site=sunshine|archive-date=24 April 2014|title=Close encounter of the 'Yowie' kind|first1=Janel|last1=Shorthouse|first2=Annie|last2=Gaffney|date=24 April 2014|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Skepticism and Alternate Theories ==

=== Graham Joyner's Perspective ===
Australian historian '''Graham Joyner''' has extensively researched the '''"yahoo"''', also referred to as the '''hairy man, Australian ape, or Australian gorilla''', which was a subject of various reports in the nineteenth century. Joyner compiled these accounts in his 1977 publication, ''The Hairy Man of South Eastern Australia'', aiming to shed light on this phenomenon.

In his research, Joyner suggests that the contemporary concept of the Yowie may have emerged from a misunderstanding or conflation with earlier "yahoo" reports. He posits that the Yowie was relatively unknown before the mid-1970s and that its rise in popular culture could be linked to misinterpretations of historical accounts.<ref>{{citation|last=Joyner |first=Graham Charles | title=Monster, myth or lost marsupial? : the search for the Australian gorilla in the jungles of history, science and language | year=2009 | location=Canberra, ACT|publisher=Hayes UK & Thomas | isbn=978-0-646-51637-0 }}</ref>

=== Rex Gilroy's Contributions ===
Since the mid-1970s, '''Rex Gilroy''', a self-described cryptozoologist and naturalist, has been a prominent figure in popularizing the Yowie legend. He claimed to have collected over 3,000 reports of Yowie sightings and proposed that these creatures might represent a relict population of an extinct ape or Homo species.

Gilroy's efforts have significantly contributed to the Yowie's presence in Australian folklore and cryptozoology discussions.

==In Popular Culture==
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2024}}
*''[[Terror Australis: Call of Cthulhu in the Land Down Under]]'', first published in 1987 as a supplement to the role-playing game ''[[Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)|Call of Cthulhu]]'', includes the Yowie as one of several mythical monsters of Australia.
*Season eight of the soap opera ''[[A Country Practice]]'' (1988) features a suspected Yowie sighting.
*English-born writer [[Geoffry Morgan Pike]] devised the name and fictitious background for the [[Yowie (chocolate)|Yowie]] brand of chocolates, launched in 1995.
*An experimental rock band by the name of [[Yowie (band)|Yowie]] formed in St. Louis, Missouri in the year 2000. A Yowie is depicted on the cover art of their debut album ''[[Cryptooology]]''.
*In the 2001 video game ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', the Yowie appears as a reptilian enemy.
*The main monster in the 2003 animated film ''[[Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire]]'' is the Yowie Yahoo, depicted as a [[vampire]] living in the Australian desert.
*Yowies appear as Australian [[List of Fablehaven's magical creatures|magical creatures]] in the 2010 book ''[[Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison]]''.
*The 2014 action-horror film ''[[Throwback (2014 film)|Throwback]]'' centres on the discovery of, and battle with, a Yowie.
*In season four of the animated series ''[[We Bare Bears]]'' (2018), the Booby Trapper (voiced by [[Jemaine Clement]]) confuses Charlie (voiced by [[Jason Lee (actor)|Jason Lee]]) for a Yowie.
*In the animated YouTube series [[The Big Lez Show]], the titular character hangs out with Yowies named Sassy and Donny
*The children's fiction book "Yowie Dreaming: A Tale of Friendship and Adventure (2025) is about the discovery of a baby Yowie. It is set in Kilcoy which is known for its Yowie statue.

==See also==

* [[Bunyip]], a water-dwelling creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology
* [[List of monotremes and marsupials of Australia]]
* [[Orang Mawas]]
* [[Orang Pendek]]
* [[Ebu gogo]]
* [[Bukit Timah Monkey Man]]
* [[Tim the Yowie Man]]
* [[Yeti]]
* [[Yowie (chocolate)]], a line of toys based on the Yowie
* [[Yara-ma-yha-who]], a creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology
* [[Yuin#Dulagal|Dulagal]], the [[Yuin]] equivalent of the Yowie
* [[Yeren]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Clark|first=Jerome|title=Unexplained! : Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena|year=2012|isbn=9781578594276|publisher=Visible Ink Press}}
* {{cite book|author=Coleman, Loren & Patrick Huyghe| title=The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobigf00cole|url-access=registration| pages=[https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobigf00cole/page/150 150–51]| year=2006| publisher=HarperCollins| isbn=0-380-80263-5}}
* {{citation|last=Emmer|first=Rick|title=Bigfoot: Fact or Fiction?|year=2010|isbn=978-1438130477|publisher=Infobase Publishing}}
* {{citation|last=Gilroy|first=Rex | title=Giants from the dreamtime : the Yowie in myth and reality | year=2001 | publisher=URU Publications | edition=1st | isbn=978-0-9578716-0-1 }}
* {{citation|title=The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot|year=2006|publisher=Anomalist Books|isbn=1933665165|last1=Healy|first1=Tony|last2=Cropper|first2=Paul}}
* {{citation|title=Bunyips: Australia's Folklore of Fear|year=2001|location=Canberra|isbn=0-642-10732-7|first=Robert |last=Holden}}
* {{citation|last=Joyner |first=Graham Charles | title=Monster, myth or lost marsupial? : the search for the Australian gorilla in the jungles of history, science and language | year=2009 | location=Canberra, ACT|publisher=Hayes UK & Thomas | isbn=978-0-646-51637-0 }}
* {{cite book|
author=Rupert Matthews| title=Sasquatch: North America's Enduring Mystery; ''Kindle locations 2400–2540, 2606–16''| year=2014| orig-year=2008| publisher=Arcturus Publishing| isbn=978-1-78404-107-6}}
* {{citation|last=Tim the Yowie Man|title=The adventures of Tim the Yowie Man, cryptonaturalist|year=2001|publisher=Random House Australia|location=Sydney|isbn=174051078X}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Skeptoid | id= 4762| number= 762| title= On the Trail of the Yowie| date= 12 January 2021}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhmFw4WcWqM Yowie-X© Searching & Tracking the Australian Yowie]
{{Apes|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Australian legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Hominid cryptids]]
[[Category:Legendary mammals]]
[[Category:Mythological creatures]]
[[Category:Cryptid footprints]]