Bunyip

The bunyip is a legendary creature from Aboriginal stories in southeastern Australia. It is said to lurk in swamps, billabongs (pools left by rivers), creeks, riverbeds and waterholes. Descriptions are all over the place: some say it looks like a seal, some a long-necked animal, some a starfish.

The word comes from the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of Victoria. It is usually translated today as 'devil' or 'evil spirit', though that may not match its older meaning. It was first printed in 1812 in the Sydney Gazette. Stories exist across Australia under many names, and one author counted at least nine regional versions. The globe marks it as a mythical-creature spot near a southeastern Australian waterway.

What does it look like?

Reports say the bunyip lives in water and has never been described on land. Of the sightings people recorded, about 60 percent resemble seals or swimming dogs, and about 20 percent are long-necked creatures with small heads.

The seal-dog kind is described as 4 to 6 feet long with shaggy black or brown fur, a round head like a bulldog's, prominent ears, no tail and whiskers. A carving called the Challicum bunyip, cut into a creek bank near Ararat, Victoria, was reported in 1851.

What the stories teach

For the Ngarrindjeri people the bunyip appears as a water spirit called the Mulyawonk. It would catch anyone who took more than their fair share of fish, or take children who went too close to the water.

So the stories carried practical lessons for living well and safely on the land, showing care for country and its people.

Where could the idea come from?

In 1933 Charles Fenner suggested seals that swam far up the Murray and Darling rivers, noting their smooth fur, big round eyes and bellowing calls. Another idea is a memory of extinct giant marsupials such as Diprotodon, first suggested in 1871.

A 2017 article proposed the southern cassowary, a large bird, because one early description mentions huge pale blue eggs, deadly claws and an emu-like head. None of these is proved. They are guesses about a legend.

On the globe

The model shows the shadowy water creature lurking in a swamp or billabong.