Bunyip: Facts about Australia's Scariest Mythological Creature
VIVA – Bunyip in Australian Aboriginal folklore is known as a legendary monster that was said to inhabit the marshes and lagoons of the Australian outback. The amphibian is described as having a round head, an elongated neck, and a body resembling an ox, hippopotamus, or manatee.
Bunyip usually makes a booming or roaring sound and Bunyip can devour human prey, especially women and children.
Here are other interesting facts about Bunyip:
1. Bunyip devours children and livestock if they get too close to the water's edge. Especially, it preys on women and children in the dark of night.
Ilustrasi Orang dalam Kegelapan
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2. Bunyip is an aquatic mammal. It has smooth skin, 'apricot' eyes, and screams that it emits before pouncing on its victims and devouring them.
3. Bunyip is a mythical creature from Australian Aboriginal mythology. It hides in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and water holes.
4. Legend has it that a man named Bunyip ever violated the greatest law of the Rainbow Serpent by eating his totem animal. After that, he was banished and turned into an evil spirit that lured the tribe and their animals into the water to eat.
5. Aboriginal people have different opinions about Bunyip. They believe Bunyip to be a bloodthirsty killer, but there are also those who say Bunyip is a punisher sent to Earth to bring justice to those who commit evil acts and to protect wildlife.
6. Bunyip is believed to have supernatural powers. It can change the water level, immobilize victims and hypnotize humans to act as slaves.
7. In 1851, a newspaper called The Australasian published a report about Bunyip being spared after killing an Aboriginal man. The creature was eleven steps long and four steps wide.
8. Bunyip has long claws, but prefers to kill by hugging his victim to death.
9. Bunyip looks like a very large starfish. However, some people claim it looks like a snake with a beard. Others think it had a dog-like face, a crocodile-like head, dark fur, a horse-like tail, flippers, tusks like a walrus, and a duck-like beak.
10. The earliest sightings describe Bunyip as having countless eyes, sharp claws, and fast speed. Another witness claimed to have one large eye on his head and a mouth on stomach.
11. Some said that the Bunyip has the characteristics of a bird and a crocodile because it has a long beak with jagged edges like a stingray. Its body and legs are thick and strong like a crocodile, but its front legs are much longer than its hind legs.
Buaya/Ilustrasi.
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12. Bunyip swims like a frog in water, but walks on its front legs on land with its head held high. When standing, it reached twelve or thirteen feet.
13. Over the years, fossils have been found that may be related to Bunyip. There are remains of an unidentified animal discovered in 1818 by Hamilton Hume and James Meehan on Lake Bathurst in New South Wales that resembles a manatee or hippopotamus.
In July 1845, fossils were discovered near Geelong and a newspaper article was written entitled Wonderful Discovery of a New Animal claiming that the fossils were evidence of Bunyip.
