Yowie

The Yowie is Australia's version of the Yeti, although they are generall classed as a different creature, like the Yeti they are considered by some as a "missing-link": a mix of human and ape - however the Yowie have a reputation for being a fairly aggressive creature and even before colonisation of Australia their were Aborigine legends about "wild men": whom the native tribes were said to have fought with.

The Yowie is also blamed for the mutilation and death of household pets such as dogs, the reasons for these attacks could be predatory or simple aggression - rarely (if ever) has a Yowie been depicted as killing a human (though if the Aborigine legends are to be believed the Yowie wasn't beyond fighting with humans in the past).

Some view the Yowie as a relative of the Bunyip - another Australian monster/cryptid - which puts a more supernatural slant to the creature and discredits it in the eyes of many scientists.