The existence of the Yowie, or “hairy man” of old Aboriginal folklore is a reality.
So argues Rex Gilroy, recognised as Australia’s first and foremost “Yowie Man”. Rex Gilroy [63] has devoted the past 50 years to researching the Yowie mystery. Besides operating the “Australian Yowie Research Centre” [PO Box 202, Katoomba NSW 2780; Ph 02 4782 3441;Email:To Contact Rex & Heather:
New Email From September 2011rrandhgilroy1044@gmail.com} since the 1970s, in 2000 together with his wife and fellow researcher, Heather, he organised “Operation Yowie” an on-going field investigation with a number of field assistants, for the purpose of turning up physical evidence of these primitive, tool-making, fire-making hominids, throughout the eastern Australian mountain ranges.
“Our Aboriginal people called these primitive hominids by many names Australia-wide. From around Nowra to the Kempsey region and across the Blue Mountains into the Central West they are called ‘Yowie’, among other names, while tribespeople southwards from Nowra also knew them as the ‘Doolegard’. Today the name ‘Yowie’ is the best known name, all of which mean “hairy man” or “hairy people”, not because these beings were hairy, but because they wore marsupial hide cloaks” Rex points out.
The author of two books on the subject, Rex the “Yowie Man’ has over the past 50 years gathered several thousand reports of sightings and close encounters with these primitive hominids, dating from early European settlement times to the present. He says the earliest sightings in the Narooma district and other far south coast areas date back to the 1840s.
The Gilroys would like to hear from anyone able to assist their investigations with helpful information. Recently they obtained sightings claims by people over a wide area of the Wadbilliga, Deua, and Morton National Parks wildernesses, but point out that these regions have always been “hairy people” hotspots.
Rex the “Yowie Man” is concerned with gathering evidence for what he calls the “fossil foundations; of the Yowie mystery.
“It is an interesting fact that, over the years I have unearthed fossil skull-types of Homo erectus [our immediate ancestor] from widely-scattered parts of Australia and which Aborigines say were, or still are, “hairy people” habitats. This is so with a recently found Homo erectus skull-type from the Bega district”.
He points out that Homo erectus made fire and crude stone tools throughout Asia over a million years ago.
“Our fieldworking teams have since 2000, uncovered what appear to be recently-abandoned campsites where besides Aboriginal-type campfires, and also crudely-manufactured stone tools of Homo erectus type have been recovered, particularly at several south coast localities, the Blue Mountains and the Central West.
Recently-made stone tools have been found in the Wadbilliga wilderness, and also fossil feet impressions in rock shoals dating back a million years or more, well before Aboriginal arrival in Australia”, Rex added.
Rex and Heather Gilroy have no doubts that the “hairy people” being seen today are remnant groups of Homo erectus.
They point out that, despite misconceptions that the “hairy people” are long-haired, gorilla-like ‘monsters’, the Yowie/Doolegard hominids are very much like ourselves. “For many years now I have carried on a campaign to expose hoaxers, particularly those producing film footage depicting supposed hairy gorilla-like yowies seen in the bush.
There is no authentic film available of a living Homo erectus/Yowie, any more that there are authentic tape recording of their sounds, which are always made
to sound like apes. Such nonsense by hoaxers is damaging to serious scientific-based efforts such as ours to solve the mystery. In identifying the Yowie/Doolegard as living Homo erectus people we believe we have accomplished this”, says Rex.
