Overview
The Yowie is a large, hairy, upright creature reported in the forests and ranges of eastern Australia, mainly New South Wales and Queensland. Witnesses describe something between about two and three and a half meters tall, ape-like, with a wide, flat nose. Some say it is shy, others that it is aggressive. Footprint reports are inconsistent in shape and toe count.
The name and idea draw on Aboriginal traditions. In 1875 the Rev. William Ridley recorded 'Yō-wī' among the Gamilaraay people as a spirit that roams at night, and Aboriginal languages across the east have many names for hairy beings, such as Quinkin and joogabinna in Queensland. Many of these are living cultural traditions, and some communities prefer that sacred details are not shared. This dossier focuses on the colonial and modern sighting lore.
In the 1800s, colonial newspapers wrote about the 'Yahoo' or 'Yahoo-Devil Devil', and a naturalist reported a sighting in 1882. Interest exploded again in the 1970s, when a large unclaimed reward was offered and Rex Gilroy began collecting reports. Gilroy said he gathered thousands of them over 50 years.
Modern reports range from a former senator's 1977 sighting to trail-camera footage and fur samples in the 2010s. Historian Graham Joyner argues the modern Yowie took shape in the mid-1970s from misread older accounts. Kilcoy in Queensland has embraced the legend with a statue and a Yowie Park.
Timeline
- 1842Australian and New Zealand Monthly Magazine reports Aboriginal belief in 'the Yahoo'.
- 1875Rev. William Ridley records 'Yō-wī' as a night spirit among the Gamilaraay.
- Nov 1876Australian Town and Country Journal reports the 'Yahoo-Devil Devil'.
- 1882Naturalist Henry James McCooey reports a sighting on the NSW south coast.
- 1912A 'second outbreak' of sightings, per researcher Robert Holden.
- Mid-1970sQueanbeyan Festival Board and radio 2CA offer a AU$200,000 reward.
- 1977Bill O'Chee's Springbrook sighting; Graham Joyner's book on the 'hairy man'.
- 2000Steve Piper films a figure in the Brindabella Ranges.
- 2006Tony Healy and Paul Cropper publish The Yowie.
- April 2023Rex Gilroy dies.
Reported sightings
Between Batemans Bay and Ulladulla NSW
1882 On the record
Henry James McCooey, an amateur naturalist, reported seeing a creature on the New South Wales south coast. He described it as about five feet tall, without a tail, covered in black hair, with reddish fur on the throat. His account appeared in the colonial press and is one of the earliest named sightings.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSpringbrook QLD
1977 On the record
Bill O'Chee, who later became a Queensland senator, said he saw a huge hairy creature at Springbrook in the Gold Coast hinterland. He compared it to Chewbacca from Star Wars and put its height at more than three meters.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOxley Island NSW
1977 On the record
The Sydney Morning Herald reported unexplained screams heard on Oxley Island and said researcher Rex Gilroy planned to investigate. No creature was seen in the report.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgNear Kilcoy QLD
1979 On the record
Two students reported running into a brown, hairy creature two to three meters tall near Kilcoy. The town later adopted the Yowie as a mascot.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBrindabella Ranges, ACT/NSW
1994 On the record
Writer and researcher Tim the Yowie Man said he saw a creature in the Brindabella Ranges west of Canberra. He went on to become one of the best-known Yowie personalities in Australia.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBrindabella Ranges, ACT/NSW
2000 On the record
Steve Piper filmed what he said was an upright, hairy figure walking in the Brindabella mountains. The clip, known as the Piper Film, is one of the most discussed pieces of Yowie footage. It has not been verified.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSpringwood, Blue Mountains NSW
2011 On the record
A witness reported a sighting at Springwood in the Blue Mountains to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and provided video and photos of footprints. No official finding was reported.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSouthern Queensland
2014 On the record
Infrared camera footage and fur samples were reported from southern Queensland, and a Gympie resident said he had had many encounters and tried to communicate with the creatures. Sightings were also reported around Port Douglas that year. None of the samples was publicly identified as an unknown animal.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgEvidence
Piper Film (2000) Disputed
Footage of an upright figure in the Brindabellas. Unverified.
Footprints Disputed
Many reported; shapes and toe counts vary widely.
Fur samples (2014) Disputed
Collected in southern Queensland; no published result showing an unknown animal.
Unclaimed reward Unexplained
AU$200,000 offered in the 1970s for a capture; never claimed.
What each side says
What witnesses and researchers report
Believers point to a long paper trail: Aboriginal traditions of hairy beings, colonial reports of the 'Yahoo' from the 1840s on, and modern sightings from credible people including a future senator. Rex Gilroy said he collected thousands of reports and argued for a surviving ape or early human population.
Researchers Tony Healy and Paul Cropper, in their 2006 book, gathered many detailed accounts and argued the pattern is hard to dismiss.
What skeptics and scientists suggest
Historian Graham Joyner argues the modern Yowie took shape only in the mid-1970s, built on misreadings of older 'Yahoo' stories, which may have described something else entirely.
Skeptics also note that footprint reports vary in shape and toe count, which is hard to square with one kind of animal, and that the AU$200,000 reward offered in the 1970s was never claimed. No sample has been publicly shown to come from an unknown primate.
Open questions
- What were 19th-century writers describing when they wrote about the 'Yahoo'?
- Why has no physical sample been identified after so many reports?
Visiting
Where: Kilcoy, Queensland, northwest of Brisbane, has embraced the legend; the Brindabella Ranges near Canberra and the Blue Mountains near Sydney are frequent sighting areas.
Access: Kilcoy's Yowie Park and statue are public. National parks are open to visitors under normal park rules.
Events: No regular festival confirmed.
Did you know?
- Tim the Yowie Man won a 2004 legal fight with Cadbury over the name of a chocolate product.
- Kilcoy's rugby league team is nicknamed The Yowies.