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1. Yara-ma-yha-who
The Yara-ma-yha-who is a legendary creature found in Australian Aboriginal mythology. According to legend, the creature resembles a little red man with a very big head, a large mouth with no teeth and suckers on the ends of its hands and feet. The Yara-ma-yha-who is said to live in fig trees. Instead of hunting for food, it is described as waiting for an unsuspecting traveller to rest under the tree. The creature then drops down and uses its suckers to drain the victim's blood. After that it consumes the person, drinks some water, and then takes a nap. When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens, it regurgitates the victim, leaving it shorter than before. The victim's skin also has a reddish tint to it that it didn't have before.[1][2] It repeats this process several times. At length, the victim is transformed into a Yara-ma-yha-who itself. According to legend, the Yara-ma-yha-who is only active during the day and only targets living prey. "Playing dead" until sunset (it is said to only hunt during the day) is offered as a ploy to avoid attack.
2. Waitoreke
The waitoreke is a cat-sized aquatic mammal of Maori legends. Its description matches a cross between a beaver and an otter with white spots on its back. Some of the most famous people who have seen it in the 18th and 19th centuries include Julius Van Haast, Walter Mantell and Captain James Cook. Many other sightings from trappers were reported throughout the 20th century. The only physical evidence ever found was presented by Van Haast in 1868 in the form of a badly degraded pelt. Some explanations include that it is an otter, seal or brush tailed possum.
3. The Hawkesbury River Monster
The Hawkesbury River Monster is sort of a cousin to Nessie, the Scottish Loch Ness Monster. The Hawkesbury River in New South Wales, Australia, is a very deep river, and the monster it accommodates is described as up to 24 meters long. Aboriginal paintings thousands of years old hint at sightings of the monster, which resembles a prehistoric plesiosaur. Although there are quite a few modern sightings, no one has been able to get a picture of the river monster.
4. Maero
In Māori tradition, the Maero (or Mohoao) are wild, violent men with long, bony fingers and long, dirty hair. They killed their prey with long, sharp fingernails and then ate them. The Maero were arboreal, hiding in the forests since the Māori arrived from Hawaiki and ruined the tapu (sacredness) of their homes. In a story from the Whanganui area, Tukoio, a mortal man, once found a maero and attacked it, cutting off its arms, legs and head. He brought the head back, but it was still alive and called for help. Tukoio did not want to fight a whole clan of maero, so he dropped it and came back later with reinforcements, but the maero had put itself back together and returned to the forest.
5. Bunyip
The bunyip is a large mythical creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. The origin of the word bunyip has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of Aboriginal people of South-Eastern Australia. However, the bunyip appears to have formed part of traditional Aboriginal beliefs and stories throughout Australia, although its name varied according to tribal nomenclature. In his 2001 book, writer Robert Holden identified at least nine regional variations for the creature known as the bunyip across Aboriginal Australia. Various written accounts of bunyips were made by Europeans in the early and mid-19th century, as settlement spread across the country. Common features in many 19th-century newspaper accounts include a dog-like face, a crocodile like head, dark fur, a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks or horns or a duck-like bill. Some believe the legend of the Bunyips to be cultural memories among the Australian aboriginals of Diprotodon, an extinct 2 tonne wombat that was the largest marsupial that ever lived.
6. Giant Ripper Lizard
Megalania, or the "Giant Ripper Lizard" is an extinct monitor lizard that stalked the Australian Bush until about 40,000 years ago. It preyed on the giant kangaroos and wombats that inhabited the continent at the time. It was the largest lizard of it's time, measuring up to 6 meters long and weighing half a tonne. While it supposedly is extinct, many people claim to have seen this monster alive in the most remote parts of the Australian outback.
7. Alien Big Cats
Alien big cats are large felines that are said to inhabit Australia, well outside their natural range. Sightings of exotic big cats in Australia began more than 100 years ago. The New South Wales State Government reported in 2003 that "more likely than not" there was a number of exotic big cats living deep in the bushlands near Sydney. In the Gippsland region of south-eastern Victoria, the origin of the cats is claimed to be American World War II airmen who brought cougars with them as mascots and released them in the Australian Bush. A study by Deakin University concluded that the existence of big cats in the Grampian mountains range was demonstrated "beyond reasonable doubt". The Blue Mountains Panther is a phantom cat reported in sightings in the Blue Mountains area, west of Sydney for over a century.
8. Poukai
In Māori mythology, the pouakai or poukai is a monstrous bird. In some of these legends pouakai kill and eat humans. The myth may refer to the real but now extinct Haast's eagle: a bird of massive size and strength, believed to have hunted moa, and which had the capability to possibly kill humans.[2] Haast's eagles did not become extinct until around one hundred years after the arrival of the Māori, and was thought to have become extinct due to the overhunting of the moa by the Māori, which deprived it of its main food source.
9. Muldjewangk
The Muldjewangk is a water-creature in Australian Aboriginal mythology that inhabited the Murray River, particularly Lake Alexandrina. It was used as a deterrent for Aboriginal children who wished to play near the riverside after dark. Sometimes they are portrayed as evil merfolk (half man half fish), or times as a gargantuan monster. It is also inconsistent whether there are many of the creatures, or a single "The Muldjewangk". A legend tells of a monstrous Muldjewangk who once attacked a steamboat owned by European settlers. The captain saw two great hands grasping the hull of the boat so he grabbed his gun. Aboriginal elders on board warned the captain not to shoot, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. "You're going to suffer now" they warned. Soon after, the captain broke out in weeping red blisters over his body, and took six months to die. Some aboriginal elders claim that there are no longer any Muldjewangks.
10. Moa
The Moa were a group of flightless birds native to the Islands of New Zealand. They ranged in size from the size of a Turkey to being 4 meters tall at the shoulder and weighing 300 kilograms. They were the only birds ever that had no wing bones at all, with some not even having the sockets for the wing bones to fit into. When the Maori arrived in New Zealand, the Moas had no fear of humans and 600 years ago, within just 100 years of the arrival of the Maori people, the Moas were extinct. However, some speculate that they may survive to the present in the most remote areas of New Zealand.
11. Yowie
Just about every place on Earth has a myth of an upright ape; and Australia is no different. "Yowie" is one of several names given to a hominid reputed to live in the Australian wilderness. The creature has its roots in Aboriginal oral history. In parts of Queensland, they are known as quinkin (or as a type of quinkin), and as joogabinna, in parts of New South Wales they are called jurrawarra, myngawin, puttikan, gubba, doolaga, gulaga and thoolagal. Other names include yahoo, yaroma, noocoonah, wawee, pangkarlangu, jimbra and tjangara. The Yowie varies in height from 7 to 12 feet tall and alleged Yowie tracks have inconsistent shape and number of toes. Some describe the creatures as timid while others call them aggressive. Like many other cryptid apes, a common explanation is that the Yowie is a living Gigantopithecus while others believe it to be a descendant of Homo Erectus.
12. Ropen
The Ropen, meaning "demon flyer",is a cryptid thought to be either a big bat, or more commonly, a pterosaur on New Guinea Island[2]. It is said to produce a light, possibly to attract fish. The Ropen is cryptid alleged to live in the vicinity of the Indonesian Papua province and the nation of Papua New Guinea. According to the book Searching for Ropens, it is "any featherless creature that flies in the Southwest Pacific, and has a tail-length more than 25% of its wingspan." On the Island, the word "ropen" refers to a large nocturnal creature that glows briefly as it flies. The ropen is the subject of folklore (like a man but also like a spirit) but it's believed by some natives to be a real animal. Descriptions vary, but it is often said to be batlike, and sometimes, pterosaur-like—although pterosaurs are generally accepted to have been extinct. The ropen is believed to be nocturnal and to exhibit bioluminescence. Purportedly it lives on a diet of fish, though there have been some reports of the creature feasting on human flesh, especially from grave robbery.It is reported to have a wingspan anywere from 12-100+f
13. Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity, often a creator god, in the mythology and a common motif in the art of Aboriginal Australia. It is named for the obvious identification between the shape of a rainbow and the shape of a snake. Some scholars believe that the link between snake and rainbow suggests the cycle of the seasons and the importance of water in human life. When the rainbow is seen in the sky, it is said to be the Rainbow Serpent moving from one waterhole to another, and the divine concept explained why some waterholes never dried up when drought struck. There are innumerable names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and power of this being within Aboriginal traditions. It is viewed as a giver of life, through its association with water, but can be a destructive force if angry. The rainbow serpent is one of the most common and well known Aboriginal stories, very important to their society. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the oldest continuing religious beliefs in the world and continues to be a cultural influence today. Some believe that the legend came from the Wonambi, a 6 meter snake that died out 40,000 years ago.
14. Kumi Lizard
The "Kumi Lizard" is a cryptid that is decribed as a monitor lizard, often bearing a resembelance to the Giant Ripper Lizard. Howeer, unlike the giant ripper lizard, the kumi lizard is said to live in the trees of New Zealand. Furthermore, it is much smaller, usually reported around 1.5 meters long. Many reports came from Maori in the 19th century and in 1875, a carcass was supposedly found washed up on the bank of the Hokainga River. Some other evidence is photos of supposed footprints. Some believe it to be a crocodile monitor that came from New Guinea.
15. Queensland Tiger
The Queensland Tiger is a cat-like cryptid reported from North-East Australia and is also known by its native name of the Yarri. It is often described as being the size of a leopard but with a much stockier build. True to it's name, it is often described with tiger-like stripes on its rump. Many believe it to be a remanant population of the Marsupial Lion, which terrorized the prehistoric landscape of Australia but went extinct 40,000 years ago. Documented reports of the creature started in 1871 but it was known from Aboriginal mythology many millennia before. There are also reports of it attacking livestock.
16. Gazeka
The Gazeka, or Papuan Devil Pig, is a large, pig like animals reported from Papua New Guinea. It is said to bear a close resemblance to a tapir. Some speculate that it may be an introduced population of Malayan Tapirs. Others believe it's a living Palorchestid, an extinct animal that resembled a tapirs with a trunk like proboscis, but were marsupials, closely related to the afforementioned diprotodon. Like diprotodon, the palorchestids died out only around 20,000 years ago and had contact with early humans.
17. Rhino Dolphin
Off the coast of the Sandwich Islands and New South Wales, Jean-Rene Quoy and Joseph Gaimard allegedly discovered a new type of dolphin. Described as Delphinus rhinoceros, these are dolphins - or dolphin-like whales - which possess two dorsal fins. One is near the head, where the neck would be on terrestrial animals, and the other is farther back than usual. These have a somewhat large size, and are black with large white blotches. However, their existence was never proven and their identity remains unknown. Some believe that the "rhino dolphin" is a yet undiscovered species of cetacean while others believe that the sightings are just a calf pressed tightly against its mother might have been mistaken for a second dorsal fin in the nearest animal.
18. Kawekaweau
The kawekaweau (Hoplodactylus delcourti), also commonly known as Delcourt's sticky-toed gecko or Delcourt's giant gecko, is an extinct species of lizard which is one of the largest known of all geckos with a snout-to-vent length of 370 mm (14.6 in) and an overall length of at least 600 mm (23.6 in), surpassed only in size by the 40 centimetres (16 in) Rodriguez Island night gecko. The Kawekaweau was endemic to New Zealand, and is now believed to be extinct. According to his own report, in 1870, a Māori chief killed a kawekaweau he found under the bark of a dead rata tree in the forests of the Waimana Valley (now protected as part of the northern section of Te Urewera National Park). This is the only documented report of anyone ever seeing one of these animals alive. He described it as being "brownish with reddish stripes and as thick as a man's wrist." Whether his story was true or not is unknown. A single stuffed museum specimen was "discovered" in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Marseille in 1986; however, the origins and date of collection of the specimen remain a mystery, as when it was found, it was not labelled.[8] Scientists examining it eventually concluded it was from New Zealand and was in fact the lost "kawekaweau", a giant and mysterious forest lizard of Maori oral tradition.
19. Tasmanian Tiger
Like the Kawekaweau, the Tasmanian tiger was once confirmed to be alive, but is now tragically extinct. Even though it looked like a wolf with stripes, it was actually a marsupial. It died out in Australia 2000 years ago with the introduction of the dingo. It survived much more recently (into the 20th century) on the Island of Tasmania but was hunted to extinction because it was believed to kill sheep. The last confirmed individual died September 7th, 1936 at Hobart Zoo and for her last 59 days she had full legal protection as an endangered species. Since then many sightings have been reported, not only on Tasmania but on the Australian mainland. Many would argue that it was only reported on the Australian mainland out of a desire to have it back, but there is so much more to it than that. In 1912 many endangered animals from Tasmania were introduced into the Wilson's Promenade and among them there were rumored to be 12 Tasmanian Tigers. And sightings on the Australian mainland started not after 1936 which one would expect if it was solely out of a desire to have it back but 1915 in Gippsland, less than 200 km from where they were supposedly introduced 3 years earlier.
20. Ningen
The Ningen are large, white humanoid creatures rumored to inhabit the waters around Antarctica reported to be 20-30 meters long. Reportedly observed on multiple occasions by crew members of government-operated "whale research" ships, they're named from the Japanese word "Ningen"(人間, "Ningen", meaning "human"). Sometimes they are described as having fins or a large mermaid-like tail instead of legs, or even tentacles. The only visible facial features are the eyes and mouth. Ningen sightings seem to occur most frequently at night, making them all the more difficult to photograph. Some explanations include that they are an albino whale, an unknown species of giant aquatic non-human ape or a new species of giant manta ray.
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