What is the bunyip?
Q: What is the bunyip?
A: The bunyip is a mythical creature from Australian mythology. It is said to live in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
Q: What are some of the different names for the bunyip?
A: Different language groups have different names for the bunyip. These include kianpraty along the Murrumbidgee, wowee in the Hunter Valley, wee waa in the Narrandera region, as well as many other names. The name bunyip comes from the Wemba-Wemba language of southeastern Australia and is normally translated today as "devil" or "evil spirit".
Q: How did Europeans view the bunyip during early settlement?
A: During early settlement of Australia by Europeans, it was believed that the bunyip was an actual unknown animal that had yet to be discovered. A large number of sightings were recorded during this time period and various written stories were made about them.
Q: What features are often reported in descriptions of a bunyip?
A: Features that are often reported in descriptions of a bunyip include dark fur, a face like a dog, sharp teeth and claws, flippers, tusks or horns and a duck-like bill.
Q: How did Robert Brough Smyth record information about what a Bunyip looks like?
A: Robert Brough Smyth recorded many different descriptions of what people thought a Bunyip looked like but he concluded that most people did not really know much about its appearance or behaviour because they were too afraid to take note of it properly.
Q: What do scholars suggest may be behind stories about Bunyips?
A: Scholars have suggested that stories about Bunyips may have been passed down from when megafauna still existed in Australia and comparisons have been made between extinct marsupials such as Diprotodon or Thylacoleo with Bunyips. Additionally some scholars suggest that people finding fossilised remains would identify them as being Bunyips.
