The bunyip is a mythical creature from the Australian Aboriginal dreamtime.
Traditional belief is that it is a monster that emerges at night to eat anybody who is around.
It is the Aboriginal equal to the bogeyman. The bunyip lives in waterholes, lagoons, bends of rivers, billabongs and creeks. They first came to the notice of Europeans as the early white settlers started moving into areas occupied by Australian Aboriginals. Australian Aboriginals explained to the settlers that there were evil spirits called bunyips in and around water that liked to eat people and naughty children. Throughout the 18th century people tried to prove the existence of the bunyip.