Aussie Yowie hunters claimed they captured footage of the legendary cryptid. Pic credit: via History/YouTube
Australian researchers claimed they shot “high-tech footage” of the legendary Yowie, Australia’s version of the North American Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
Dean Harrison and his team of Yowie hunters claimed that the footage, captured in the forests of Queensland in May 2012 using an infrared camera, proved the legendary creature.
Forensic video analysts agreed that the thermal footage was genuine and showed a bipedal hominid emitting a heat signature. Others said the skull resembled Australopithecus, an ancient hominid species that lived about 2 million years ago.
However, biologists, anthropologists, and wildlife experts said the sighting was puzzling because science did not know of a primate species native to Australia.
What is the Yowie?
Yowie traditions have roots in centuries-old aboriginal folklore. Many Australian aboriginal groups have cave wall drawings of the Yowie. Early European settlers also reported encounters with the creature.
Researchers said the settler eyewitness accounts, dating back to the 1700s, corroborated the indigenous stories.
Witness descriptions of the Yowie suggest it is similar in appearance to its North American cousin. It is supposedly a hairy, bipedal, and Bigfoot-like creature that lives in the Australian wilderness.
Experts say that Australian folklore about the Yowie originated in aboriginal legends predating the arrival of European settlers. The legends described a huge, hairy, and fierce humanoid beast that hunts at night and feasts on human flesh.
Australian folkloric description of the Yowie as a fierce monster that feeds on human flesh contradicted North American accounts of the Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
North American folklore generally depicts the Sasquatch as a creature that avoids humans. It attacks humans only when it feels threatened.
Harrison and team were hunting Yowie in Queensland forest
Harrison and his team were investigating claims of Yowie presence in the dense rainforests of the Springbrook National Park in Queensland.
They set up a newly acquired infrared camera at a spot in the forest where they had previously detected alleged evidence of Yowie activity.
Overnight, the cameras captured thermal footage that stumped skeptics. However, believers hailed the enigmatic footage as the most convincing evidence of the elusive Australian cryptid ever obtained.
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Bigfoot-like cryptid captured on camera?
Journalist Tony Harrison shared the famous footage during an episode of The Proof Is Out There on the History Channel.
The thermal imagery seemed to show a massive humanoid figure concealed behind a forest tree. Analysts claimed the footage showed the monster hugging the tree trunk. Dean told Harris the cryptid was trying to avoid detection by hugging a tree and “pretending to be part” of it.
The creature was not alone. According to analysts, the footage showed a second individual standing beside the first. Both were gigantic ape-like monsters.
The second creature bent down to pick something from the ground. The thermal imagery revealed an ape-like form with a cone-shaped head, muscular shoulders, and arms.
Yowie and Sasquatch share ancestors, experts claimed
Yowie expert Cliff Barackman claimed the footage was consistent with what researchers knew about the cryptid. It was also consistent with recent eyewitness descriptions and aboriginal folklore.
According to Barackman, the similarities between ancient aboriginal accounts and modern-day eyewitness descriptions suggested that both encountered the same creature. The consistencies also indicated the Yowie was not mythical but a biological creature indigenous to the Australian forests.
Cryptozoologists speculated that it shared a Central Asian ancestor with the Mongolian Alma, the Himalayan Yeti, and the North American Sasquatch or Bigfoot.
Forensic video analyst Michael Primeau said the thermal footage was authentic and showed something emitting a heat signature. Experts added that the creature’s skull resembled Australopithecus, an ancient hominid species that lived about 2 million years ago.