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This article is about a mythical creature. There is also a town called Bunyip, Victoria
Bunyip
Bunyip (1935) Artist Unknown, from the
National Library of Australia digital collections. Bunyip is a town in west Gippsland, Victoria, Australia 3 km from the Princes Highway named after a creature found in Australian The National Library of Australia is the country's largest reference library responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national
Creature
Name: Bunyip
Classification
Grouping: Cryptid
Sub grouping: Lake monster
Data
First reported: Early 1800s
Country: Australia
Region: Throughout Australia
Habitat: Water
Status: Unsubstantiated

The bunyip (usually translated as "devil" or "spirit"[1]) is a mythical creature from Australian folklore. Cryptid is a term used in the study of Cryptozoology to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested but not demonstrated scientifically Lake monster or loch monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have purportedly been sighted in and/or are believed to dwell in freshwaters although their existence For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological Various accounts and explanations of bunyips have been given across Australia since the early days of the colonies. It has also been identified as an animal recorded in Aboriginal mythology, similarly to known extinct animals. Australian Aboriginal myths (also known as Dreamtime stories Songlines or Aboriginal Oral literature) are the stories traditionally performed

Contents

Characteristics

Descriptions of bunyips vary widely. It is usually given as a sort of lake monster. Lake monster or loch monster is the name given to large unknown animals which have purportedly been sighted in and/or are believed to dwell in freshwaters although their existence Common features in Aboriginal drawings include a horse-like tail, flippers, and walrus-like tusks or horns. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. The tail is the section at the rear end of an Animal 's Body; in general the term refers to a distinct flexible Appendage to the Torso. The walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered Marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and According to legend they are said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds and waterholes. A swamp is a Wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a smallish lake specifically an Oxbow lake, a stagnant pool of Water attached to a waterway A stream is a body of Water with a current, confined within a bed and stream-banks "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there At night their blood-curdling cries can be heard as they devour any animal that ventures near their abodes.

Early accounts

During the early settlement of Australia by Europeans, the notion that the bunyip was an actual unknown animal that awaited discovery became common. Early European settlers, unfamiliar with the sights and sounds of the island continent's peculiar fauna, regarded the bunyip as one more strange Australian animal and sometimes attributed unfamiliar animal calls or cries to it. At one point, the discovery of a strange skull in an isolated area associated with these 'bunyip calls' seemed to provide physical evidence of the bunyip's existence.

In 1846 a peculiar skull was taken from the banks of Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales. The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT In the first flush of excitement, several experts concluded that it was the skull of something unknown to science. In 1847 the so-called bunyip skull was put on exhibition in the Australian Museum (Sydney) for two days. The Australian Museum is the oldest Museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of Natural history and Anthropology. Visitors flocked to see it and the Sydney Morning Herald said that it prompted many people to speak out about their 'bunyip sightings' "Almost everyone became immediately aware that he had heard 'strange sounds' from the lagoons at night, or had seen 'something black' in the water. The Sydney Morning Herald ( SMH) is a daily Broadsheet Newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia " It was eventually concluded that it was a 'freak of nature' and not a new species. The 'bunyip skull' disappeared from the museum soon afterwards, and its present location is unknown. [2]

As European exploration of Australia proceeded, the bunyip increasingly began to be regarded as nonexistent. The mysterious skull was later identified as that of a disfigured horse or calf. The idiom 'why search for the bunyip?' emerged from repeated attempts by Australian adventurers to capture or sight the bunyip, the phrase indicating that a proposed course of action is fruitless or impossible.

The Greta Bunyip was a bunyip which was believed to have lived in the swamps of the Greta area, in Victoria, Australia. Greta is a district in Victoria, Australia, located east of Benalla, in the Rural City of Wangaratta. Locals often heard a loud booming sound which emitted mysteriously from the swamps, yet none of the frequent search parties were able to locate the source of the sound. Once the swamps were drained, the sound subsided. Some Greta locals believed that the bunyip moved on to another area, while others believed it had died once its habitat was gone. [3]

Explanations

Diprotodon australis
Diprotodon australis

Although no documented physical evidence of bunyips has been found, it has been suggested by cryptozoologists that tales of bunyips could be Aboriginal memories of the Diprotodon, or other extinct Australian megafauna which became extinct some 50,000 years ago. Cryptozoology (from Greek κρυπτός kruptos, "hidden" + Zoology; literally "study of hidden animals" is the study of and search __FORCETOC__ Diprotodon was the largest known marsupial that ever lived Australian megafauna is a term used to describe a number of comparatively large Animal Species in Australia, often defined as species with body [4]

The cries of the possum or koala could likely be mistaken for the bunyip, as most people are surprised to find koalas or possums are capable of such loud roars. A possum is any of about 64 small to medium-sized Arboreal Marsupial Species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus is a thickset Arboreal Marsupial herbivore native to Australia, and the only extant The Barking Owl, a nocturnal bird that lives around swamps and billabongs in the Bush is sometimes credited for making the sounds of the bunyip. The Barking Owl or Winking Owl ( Ninox connivens) is a Nocturnal bird species native to mainland Australia The bush is a term used for rural possibly lawless undeveloped land or country areas in many places such as Australia, New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa The bird is known to make a call that can easily be mistaken for the cries of a woman or child. Other species of birds, such as bitterns and bush-stone curlews emit blood curdling sounds that were sometimes attributed to bunyips. Bitterns are a classification of wading birds in the Heron family Ardeidae However, this is unlikely as the aborigines, having lived in Australia for such a vast amount of time would know these sounds.

The most likely explanation for the existence of bunyips relates to their locations on the Murray-Darling river system. The Murray-Darling Basin is 3375km long drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass and is currently by far the most significant agricultural area in Australia Australian Fur Seals are known to swim up the river system during times of flood, subsequently becoming trapped within the river system once the flooding subsides. There have been dozens of Fur Seals killed or captured as far north as Canberra, incidentally, in close proximity to areas where a Bunyip has been heard or sighted.

The coincidence of the features and sounds made of both animals might lead an inland dwelling Aborigine or European to the conclusion that the creature was in fact a new species. Meanwhile, those having travelled more widely, would immediately recognise the same creature as a fur seal. It must be remembered, however, that the bunyip myth is apparently of very ancient origin (tens of thousands of years). Thus, modern bunyip tales may be folk memory that was originally based on large diprotodonts, but had changed into the malevolent mythical beast after these animals had become extinct, and eventually adopted physical elements from fur seals which matched the supposed ecological characteristics of the bunyip better than other living animals. Folk memories is a term sometimes used to describe stories, Folklore or myths about past events that have passed orally from generation to generation

Also worth noting, the Procoptodon, a pre-historic Kangaroo-like animal, had a rounded face and could lift its arms above head height. Procoptodon was a genus of giant short-faced Kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch Such an animal — especially at dusk or twilight — could easily be mistaken for a bi-pedal humanoid beast. Additionally, the bunyip may include elements of the Quinkana, an extinct pre-historic land-crocodile that died out about 40,000 years ago. Quinkana is an Extinct Genus of mekosuchine crocodile that lived in Australia from ~24 million years ago to ~40000 years ago

Cultural reference to Bunyip

See also: Bunyip aristocracy, Kurdaitcha, Yowie (cryptid), Drop Bear, Bunyip River, and Bunyip, Victoria
Bunyip in 1890 Illustrated Australian news
Bunyip in 1890
Illustrated Australian news
Charmed Bunyip Book of Shadows pages
Charmed Bunyip Book of Shadows pages

Depictions of bunyips outside of Australia are often unrelated to the various earlier depictions and fictional accounts. The name is given to monsters in video games such as Ty The Tasmanian Tiger, in the PlayStation and Playstation 2 games Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy X and Culdcept. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is the first title in a Video game series for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube produced by Krome The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console is a Console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation Video is a Console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) and the tenth installment in the Final Fantasy series Culdcept is a Turn-based strategy Video game. It has drawn comparisons to other modern strategy titles and also shares features with non-video games In a version of The Sims 2 and other game references, Animal Crossing, and the Nintendo DS follow-up Animal Crossing: Wild World, and in animated series Mona the Vampire, it is depicted as a large rabbit. The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation Computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Animal Crossing, known as in Japan, is a life simulation Video game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo. The is a dual-screen Handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. in Japan, is a life simulation Video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS Handheld game console, and the Mona the Vampire is an animated children's television based on the series Robyn le Vampire, directed by Louise Piche and Jean

The MMORPG RuneScape has a Bunyip that you are able to summon. RuneScape is a Java -based MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd A summoned Bunyip will give the owner the ability to eat raw fish (provided he/she has the correct cooking level to cook the fish), and will restore hitpoints when in battle.

The pen-and-paper RPG Werewolf: The Apocalypse defines them as a type of marsupial werewolf once present in Australia. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. In the Role-playing game Werewolf The Apocalypse there are different fictional tribes of werewolves See also Lycanthropy (disambiguation Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to

The online RPG AdventureQuest has the bunyip as a monster, although it differs significantly in appearance. AdventureQuest (also referred to by its website name BattleOn or simply as AQ) is an online single-player RPG developed by It appears as a large black creature with the mixed features of a werewolf and a jackrabbit.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ This translation does not accurately represent the role of the bunyip in Aboriginal mythology or its possible origins. Australian Aboriginal myths (also known as Dreamtime stories Songlines or Aboriginal Oral literature) are the stories traditionally performed It is probably rather an attempt by European settlers to rephrase a concept unknown to them in more familiar terms. The original meaning of the term may have simply been Diprotodon or Palorchestes, but the bunyip as currently understood is a mythological creature distinct from other "spirit" entities in Aboriginal mythology and probably retaining some vestiges of actual prehistoric animals. __FORCETOC__ Diprotodon was the largest known marsupial that ever lived Palorchestes azael ("ancient leaper" is an extinct species of Marsupial.
  2. ^ Bunyips - Evidence
  3. ^ Ellis (1873-1942), Samuel Edward [ca. 1940] (1972). A history of Greta : in which the writer touches on exploration, settlement, transport, conditions of life, development, fauna, with special reference to the bunyip and to "Esther" who preferred her rights before her privileges, and to the Kellys., 2nd?, Lowden Publishing Co. , 40p. . ISBN 0909706247. Retrieved on 2007-05-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place  “Description: xii, [5] leaves of plates (1 folded)” 
  4. ^ Shuker, Karl P. N. [1995]. Dr Karl P N Shuker (born 1959) is a British Zoologist living in the West Midlands, England. "5", In search of prehistoric animals; Do giant extinct creatures still exist?, 1, Blanchford. ISBN 0 7137 2469 2.  “As far back as 1924, Dr C. W. Anderson of the Australian Museum had suggested that stories of the bunyip could derive from aboriginal legends of the extinct diprodonts - a view repeated much more recently in Kadimakara (1985) by Australian zoologists Drs Tim Flannery and Michael Archer, who nominated the palorchestids as plausible candidates. ” 
  5. ^ The Bunyip. Home Page. The Bunyip, (Gawler's Weekly Newspaper) (June 7, 2000-06-07). Retrieved on 2007-05-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place  “Beneath the nineteenth-century dignity of colonial Gawler ran an undercurrent of excitement. Somewhere in the mildness of the spring afternoon an antiquated press clacked out a monotonous rhythm with a purpose never before known in the town. Then the undercurrent burst in a wave of jubilation - Gawler's first newspaper, "The Bunyip", was on the streets. ”
  6. ^ What to See & Do in Murray Bridge. Murray Bridge Tourism Information. Adelaide Hills On-Line. Retrieved on 2007-05-26. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place  “When a coin is inserted in the machine the Bunyip raises from the depths of its cave, booming forth its loud ferocious roar. ”
  7. ^ The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek, Jenny Wagner ISBN 0-14-050126-6
  8. ^ House of the Gentle Bunyip, Hodgkinson St, Clifton Hill, Victoria (next to the Baptist Church) The house was finally saved by Ecumenical Housing (now Melbourne Affordable Housing) and redeveloped as a home for low income people. Clifton Hill is a Suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is in the Local Government Area of the City of Yarra The campaign and VCAT hearings set many precedents for planning in Victoria.
  9. ^ A Kangaroo Court ISBN 0-333-45032-9, Mary O'Toole, illustrated by Keith McEwan

Further reading:

Smith, Malcolm (January 1996). Malcolm Smith may refer to Malcolm Smith (artist (1912&ndash1966 American retro-futurist artist Malcolm Smith (motorcyclist (born Bunyips & Bigfoots: In Search of Australia's Mystery Animals. Millennium Books (Au), 207 pages. ISBN 978-1864290813.  

Dictionary

bunyip

-noun

  1. (Australia) A mythical Australian monster, said to inhabit swamps and lagoons.
  2. (Australia, obsolete) An imposter or con-man.
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