BEASTS OF THE BUSH

WHAT ARE YOWIES?

Said to be a hairy, apelike creature standing between 2m-3.5m, much like the fabled yeti or Big Foot.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE? Witnesses claim to have seen them or heard their bloodcurdling screams, or found footprints in the rainforests of eastern Australia. Springbrook in the Gold Coast Hinterland is said to be a hot spot.

WILL THEY EAT YOU? “Experts’’ generally say the yowie is timid, but some – including Dean Harrison – have told hair-raising tales in the past of being pursued by aggressive apelike animals.

MOST HIGH PROFILE WITNESS

Former senator Bill O’Chee, who as a Gold Coast schoolboy was with a bunch of 20 TSS students on camp near Springbrook when they saw what they described as a 3m tall, haircovered creature. He told the Bulletin in November 1977 the animal approached their camp several times. He has stuck to the story over the decades, saying his memory of that day remains vivid.