August 15, 2016

If you’re out on a nighttime walkabout in Australia, be careful that you don’t stroll too close to a billabong (water hole), lest you are grabbed by the terrifying Bunyip. According to tradition of the Aboriginal people of Australia, the Bunyip is a malevolent monster that lurks in the water, waiting to pounce upon its next meal. And that meal is sometimes human. It is said that on a quiet night in the Outback, you can hear the haunting cry of the Bunyip. Even today, Aboriginal people may steer clear of billabongs when they hear mysterious calls of the wild.

A terrifying depiction of the legendary Bunyip
Credit: State Library of Victoria

Most everyone in Australia has heard of the Bunyip, and it seems quite a few people know someone who says they saw one. Yet it is often impossible to find a person who has actually caught a glimpse of one. This may be why descriptions of the Bunyip vary widely. In some tales, it is a dog-like or seal-like creature. Bunyips have been described as being big as a horse and as small as a dog. They may have flippers, fangs, tusks, one or two eyes, shaggy fur, scales, or horns. Descriptions of the animal’s behavior also vary widely, from a man-eating monster to a timid plant-eating creature that shies away from humans.

When tales of the Bunyip reached the early European settlers of Australia, they  thought it may be yet another strange new creature (like kangaroos and koalas) that they had never before encountered. Several expeditions set out on vain attempts to capture a Bunyip. One expedition in 1846 was widely reported to have returned with the skull of a Bunyip (the skull was then supposedly lost). Most experts believe the skull was likely that of a horse or cow, perhaps modified to change its appearance. Today, scientists do not believe the Bunyip actually exists. They think that reported sightings are more likely the result of imagination, misidentification of other animals, or deliberate hoaxes.

Yet, legends of the Bunyip may not be all bull’s wool (nonsense). Some investigators consider the Bunyip to be a cryptid. A cryptid is a living thing whose existence has been suggested but not demonstrated (see cryptozoology). A few experts have suggested that the Bunyip could be a Diprotodon (giant wombat), a bear-sized Australian marsupial which is believed to have gone extinct more than 30,000 years ago. The Diprotodon likely spent days wallowing in shallow billabongs. The ancestors of Aboriginal people, who arrived in Australia more than 50,000 years ago, no doubt saw and probably hunted Diprotodon. It may be that stories of the Bunyip recount memories of ancestral encounters with this prehistoric giant in the Dreamtime, an ancient time in the belief of Aboriginal people of Australia when the first beings existed and the land was created.

June 13, 2016

The mysterious and ferocious chupacabra is a rare modern-day monster. Unlike such legendary beasts as the Yeti or the Loch Ness monster—known from tales that go back hundreds of years—stories of the chupacabra are quite recent. The first reported sighting of a chupacabra was in 1995 by a woman in Puerto Rico. This ferocious beast is said to be about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall, walking on two legs, with large eyes, fangs, and raised spikes along its back. But how can such a terrifying monster remain undiscovered in this day and age with cell phone cameras and instant messaging?

The ferocious chupacabra! Or, at least, what one might look like.
Credit: © Alexlky, Shutterstock

News of the initial chupacabra encounter quickly spread, and soon other people claimed to have seen the creature. The voracious chupacabra is said to often attack farm animals—particularly chickens and goats—in the middle of the night. El chupacabra is Spanish for the goat-sucker. According to modern legend, Chupacabra victims are found completely drained of blood, with their lifeless carcasses left behind to be discovered by frightened landowners. Since 1995, there have been hundreds of reported sightings of the mysterious beast, mainly in Mexico and South and Central America. Other sightings, however, have been reported as far away as Texas and Maine in the United States and even in Russia.

Some investigators consider the chupacabra to be a cryptid. A cryptid is a living thing whose existence has been suggested but not demonstrated (see cryptozoology). The monstrous chupacabra does not resemble any known animal, leading to much speculation about its origins. Some people believe the creature could be a weird kind of hybrid—the result of interbreeding among coyotes, wolves, or dogs, and possibly with other animals such as raccoons, bears, or mountain lions. Biologists consider such interbreeding highly unlikely. Some conspiracy enthusiasts say that the chupacabra is the result of secret genetic testing carried out on animals by the United States government. However, no real evidence supports this theory.

Scientists do not believe the chupacabra actually exists. They think that reported sightings are more likely the result of imagination, misidentification of other animals, or deliberate hoaxes. Investigators point out that the first person to “see” a chupacabra had just seen a movie that featured a monstrous creature—a creature that just happens to fit the description of a chupacabra.

But unlike many legendary cryptids, where sightings are usually considered unreliable, there are photographs of supposed chupacabras. People have even reported finding chupacabra bodies. However, each chupacabra corpse has proven to be a dog, coyote, raccoon, or other common mammal—often stricken with a severe case of mange, a skin disease that often causes an animal to lose its fur and take on a gaunt, monstrous appearance.