Giants From the Dreamtime the Yowie In Myth And Reality

Katherine River, Arnhem Land 1968

Monster killed her Dog

We now journey into the Northern Territory, land of the "Pankalanka", the name by which these horrific, hairy monster hominids are known to Aborigines and whites alike hereabouts.

During August 1968, a 2.6 metre-tall giant hominid, long white hair trailing from his head, surprised a young woman on a camping trip while she was walking her dog near the Katherine River, inland from the town of Katherine in Arnhem Land. "The monster just appeared from out of bushes in front of me. He grabbed the dog and hurled it against a boulder killing it.

I ran away screaming for my parents at our camp nearby. The man-beast all the time was yelling and snarling and at first began pursuing me, but as I approached the camp and he saw my folks and our vehicle, he stopped and retreated into the scrub. I recall he had large genitals, very hairy muscular arms and large hands with long finger nails," she told me in a 1973 interview.

Mount Kosciusko 1968

Large bear like Creature

One night in March 1968, a motorist, Mr. John Noyce, was driving on the Mount Kosciusko road when what he thought was a large bear, standing upright, appeared on the roadside ahead of him, illuminated by the car headlights. The creature was much taller than a man and was covered in long hair. However, before Mr. Noyce could get a good look at the beast, it had walked off into the roadside scrub.

Bundaberg 1968

Pgymy sized Natives

A few years earlier, about 1968, a Bundaberg farmer, living on the upper reaches of the Herberton River, reported seeing a whole tribe of pygmy-size natives, men, women and children moving through jungle in the mountain country behind the town.

There are also numerous cave paintings, often thousands of years old, believed made by these people, hidden deep in jungle-covered rock shelters throughout the Atherton/Cape York ranges.

In 1978 I made an inspection of one of these cave art sites, which besides depicting the stencilled arms and hands of the small artists, included various animals and hunting scenes of long ago.

Mt Kosciusko Road 1968

Mystery Beast

Despite a lack of interest among Australian scientists, quite believable sightings of Yowies continue to be made. For example: one night in March 1968 a motorist, Mr John Noyce, was driving on the Mt Kosciusko road, when what he thought was a large 'bear' standing upright, appeared on the roadside ahead of him, illuminated by the car headlights.

The creature, much taller than a man, was covered in long hair. However, before Mr Noyce could get a good look at the mystery beast, it walked off into roadside scrub.

Megalong Creek 1968

Animal hide clad black Creature

Another sighting claim, made by a family picnicking near Megalong Creek on day in September 1968, when they spotted "an animal hide-clad, 2ft tall [ 0.61m] black creature - probably male - running across open ground in the paddock of an adjacent farm property, to disappear into thick scrub.

Paua New Guinea 1968

Huge male Masalai

In 1968 a huge male 'Masalai' carried off a native woman from a village in the vicinity of Mt Dom, a massive sentinel rising 4,396ft above the surrounding jungle terrain.