The legend of the Australian Bunyip has taken its place, historically speaking, alongside those of the Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster and the Yeti for generations. Settlers arriving in Australia's alien landscape quickly learned to warn their children of the dangers associated with playing too near the billabongs.
Whereas little ears are rarely receptive to sage advice, a hissed "the Bunyip'll getcha!" was designed to concentrate a young mind on keeping a careful distance from the water's edge.
Until now, the Bunyip legend was deemed to be a cautionary tale, borrowed from the aborigines in the sinister form of an unseen monster, designed to make sure little kids live to be big kids.
The truth, however, is that there is much more to Bunyips than mere legend.
A field study, jointly funded by NASA and the British Museum has unearthed possibly the most amazing discovery in a century of amazing discoveries. Bunyips exist!
After months deep in the Australian outback, a team of international naturalists established that a hitherto unknown creature had been located. The resultant field study confirmed that this animal, a non marsupial, bears a strong resemblance to the descriptions given by people (hitherto thought to have been hallucinating, or just plain fruit loops,) of the Bunyip.
Fur covered, horned, and with clawed feet, the Bunyip emits its trademark howl when it feels humans are approaching to close to their habitat, (caves they burrow out from the almost solid earth with their short muscular hands).
The Bunyip howl is a dreadful sound, enough to strike terror into the bravest of souls, and many of the original team developed a form of shell shock, a nervous condition caused by frequent and sudden exposure to it.
To counteract this, the team was issued with special purpose ear defenders, developed by the CIA.
