Having stalked its way through Aboriginal legends into modern folklore, the Bunyip is as bizarre an aquatic mammal as one could ever hope to discover lurking beneath the placid waters of Australia’s lakes, riverbeds and water holes.

Harkening back to the Aboriginal “Dreamtime” legends of creation, the Bunyip was considered to be a malevolent water spirit, which emerged only at night to devour any human or animal foolish enough to wander too close to it’s watery abode. The more modern interpretation of this creature is that of an animal that is a biologically manifest and decidedly gentle – if slightly eccentric – herbivore.

Known for its blood-curdling shriek, descriptions of this animal vary as often as the stories told about them. According to the Aborigines the Bunyip was a species that inhabited numerous amphibious forms, including the “dog-faced” and “long neck” varieties. The “long neck” version of this creature might actually represent a more traditional LAKE MONSTER, which eyewitnesses might have been confused with the local legends of the Bunyip

Nevertheless, there are a few traits which have commonly held true regarding the creature’s appearance. Said to be approximately the size of a calf, with a canine-like features and a coat of shaggy hair, this animal has also been depicted as having tusks, fins, scales, claws, wings, a long tail and even feathers.

Due to the disparity of these accounts the Bunyip has suffered much ridicule, even among cryptozoological circles. Despite the obvious multifariousness of these accounts, one must admit that the similarities between the Bunyip and other so called WATER-HORSES of Europe – such as the DOBHAR-CHU, EACH-UISGE and KELPIE – are startlingly evident.

Although the temptation exists to dismiss these creatures as nothing more than the product of Aboriginal fantasy – A fantasy, one might add, which infected the early white settlers of the area and continues to this day – the fact remains that there are some tantalizing pieces of evidence which seem to indicate that (at least until the 1800’s) the Bunyip may well have been a living, breathing member of Australia’s incredibly diverse fauna, which include many species unique to the continent, not the least incredible of which was the now allegedly extinct THYLACINE or Tasmanian Tiger – reports of which continue to this day.

Some researchers have speculated that the Bunyip may, in fact, be a modern descendent of a prehistoric marsupial known as Diprotodon Australis or, as it more commonly referred, the giant sloth.