“Operation Yowie”, the on-going eastern Australian field investigation begun in 2000 for the purpose of gathering physical evidence, proving the existence of the Yowie, or “hairy people” of ancient Aboriginal tradition, has resulted in some startling discoveries in the south coastal NSW mountain country.
These discoveries include the uncovering of recently abandoned “Aboriginal-like” campfires, at which crude stone tools have been found which compare with ancient Homo erectus examples from Java. A number of fossil hominid footprints have also been recovered dating between 1 million and 500,000 years old, at sites in the Nowra, Moruya and Wadbilliga region, where a mineralised Homo erectus skull-type has been discovered.
The director of “Operation Yowie” is Australia’s foremost “Yowie Man” Rex Gilroy, currently celebrating 50 years of Yowie research. Together with his wife, Heather, he directs 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] Here since the 1970s the Gilroys have gathered sightings reports, footprints plaster casts and other evidence.
“Yowie Man” Rex, who turns 64 in November, is the ‘father’ of both Australian Yowie [relict hominid] and Cryptozoology research, having begun investigating these fields as a high school student in 1957.
The owner of the largest natural science collection in Australia, he is concerned with establishing the “fossil foundations” of the Yowie mystery. “In the course of a lifetime’s research I have built up a collection of fossil skull-types demonstrating an evolutionary progression from Homo erectus into modern humans in Australia. It is significant that, wherever fossil evidence of Homo erectus is found, there are Aboriginal traditions of “hairy people” and often modern-day sightings claims.
Our Aboriginal people referred to these beings as “hairy people” because they wore marsupial hide cloaks. Today this ‘hairy’ title has caused many people to believe the Yowie to be a race of hairy ape-like creatures, encouraging hoaxers to produce photos and video footage of gorilla-like ‘yowies’.
The truth is, Homo erectus, our immediate ancestor, was/is a tool-making, fire-making hominid, that scientists believe had a guttural speech and was quite intelligent. There are at present no authentic photos or video footage of these beings”, say Rex.
The Gilroys have gathered several thousand sightings and ‘close encounter’ claims, footprint and other finds from the Victorian-southern New South Wales region alone dating back at least to the 1840s. “Despite hoax sightings claims, we have gathered a great many modern-day accounts which we believe have the ring of truth about them. We prefer to keep an open mind and search for the evidence”, added Rex the Yowie Man.
In recent times the Gilroys and their assistants have obtained reports from the Morton, Deua and Wadbilliga National Parks, of campers in remote areas having come across freshly made often large hominid footprints, as well as some campers having caught sight of primitive male or female hominids, sometimes garbed in animal hides, moving in remote areas.
At present the Gilroys and their “Operation Yowie” team are investigating sightings reports in the Nowra district. If any readers can assist them with helpful information, they would be pleased to hear from them. “Ours is a serious, scientific attempt to solve the Yowie mystery, and we now believe we have done so”, concluded “Yowie Man” Rex.
