Exploring Aboriginal myths and monsters

by Jim Poulter
7th April 2025

BIRRARUNG STORIES

IN ALL WORLD cultures, there are many ghost and monster stories featuring supernatural beings like Trolls, Goblins, Vampires, and such.
However, I would say that ghost and monster stories have a particularly strong place in Aboriginal myth and legend, and it is interesting how historically accurate some of these stories have proved to be.
This is particularly so in relation to a fabled being, variously called the Hairy Beggar, the Yowie, or the Drop Bear.
In Victoria, it is known as the Dooligar.
I have spoken to Aboriginal people all over Australia, and this fearsome creature is always described very similarly.
The Dooligar is commonly said to have shaggy brown to fair hair, huge scythe-like teeth, and vicious talons on its hands.
It was likely to drop from a tree onto its prey, bite its head clean off, and at the same time completely eviscerate the victim.
It would then carry the headless and gutted corpse up the tree and lodge it in a branch fork.
Apparently, the purpose of this action was that it did not like fresh meat, so it would leave the carcass up there for a few days until it went off.
The Dooligar, or Hairy Beggar, was apparently most active in the late afternoon or early evening.
If it was not lurking in a tree canopy, it was likely wandering around the bush on all fours in search of prey.
When confronted with its prey, which might be a random person strolling through the bush, the Dooligar reared up on its hind legs to its full height of about two metres and attacked.
So, unless you were quick on your feet, you were likely to be decapitated, eviscerated, and parked up in a tree fork until you went rotten.
Apart from hopefully seeing the Dooligar early and outrunning it, one other factor could save you.
The Dooligar is consistently reported in Aboriginal stories as suffering from the foulest body odour imaginable.
So, if you are out in the bush and suddenly smell an overpowering pong, you have two options.
Either hit the trail back to where you came from (without running under any trees), or drop to the ground and play possum.
If the Dooligar thinks you are already dead, it will just carry you up the tree, stick you in a fork and wait for you to go off.
So, all you then do is wait until the pong has gone, climb down, and run back home.
Right from the first time Europeans stepped off the boat, there has been a fascination with Australia’s unique wildlife, and ancient bones of extinct giant marsupials were soon discovered.
Although these bones did not include carnivorous animals, it was nonetheless quickly postulated that there must have been an “apex predator”.
So, the idea of a “marsupial lion” category was created even before the bones of any such creature had been found.
Well, that is, in fact, not quite true because the explorer, Major Michell, found a legbone of such an animal in the early 1830s, except that it was not recognised as such at the time.
However, as various other bone fragments began turning up, a species category of “Thylacoleo” (marsupial lion) was finally created in 1859.
It was not until 1966, however, that a nearly complete 40,000-year-old skeleton was finally found.
This allowed many of the academic arguments that had raged over the previous hundred years to be resolved.
Then, in 2002, eight remarkably complete skeletons were discovered in the Nullarbor Caves, so a fairly complete picture was finally formed.
The result was that the creature depicted in Aboriginal stories and myths was strikingly similar to the real thing.
It was indeed a creature that was often around two metres or more tall when standing erect and probably weighed up to 160 kilograms.
To give you some idea of a human equivalent, Aaron Sandilands was the biggest person ever to play Australian Football, and he was 2.13 metres tall (seven foot) and weighed 130 kilos.
Interestingly, Thylacoleo had fused second and third toes, which meant it was adept at climbing and ambushing its prey by dropping out of trees.
It also had strong forearms for grappling prey and semi-opposable thumbs with retractable claws to eviscerate its prey.
It had blade-like upper and lower back teeth and enormous jaw strength, which gave it an extremely efficient and unique bite.
Pound for pound, Thylacoleo had the strongest bite of any mammal species, living or extinct.
In other words, it could drop from a tree onto its prey, bite its head off, eviscerate it, and then carry its victim back up the tree.
Scientists also concluded that while capable, Thylacoleo was not particularly fast, so the Aboriginal folklore of running away from the Dooligar seems quite credible.
As a final point, while scientists have no opinion on the possibility of Thylacoleo suffering from body odour, I would suggest that as a relative of the Tasmanian Devil,
that idea would also seem to have some merit.

Jim Poulter is a local history author with an interest in Aboriginal history and culture.