Editing Bunyip (section)

== Characteristics ==
[[Image:Bunyip (1935).jpg|thumb|right|300px|''Bunyip'' (1935), by Gerald Markham Lewis, from the [[National Library of Australia]] digital collections, demonstrates the variety in descriptions of the legendary creature.]]

The bunyip has been described as [[amphibian|amphibious]], almost entirely aquatic (there are no reports of the creature being sighted on land),{{sfn|Clarke|2018|p=35}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Amphibious, but never been witnessed going ashore on the riverbank, according to {{harvnb|South Australian Institute|1901|p=101}}.}} inhabiting lakes, rivers,<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|2018|p=35}} ([[Lake Tyrrell]], Little Wimmera River). {{harvnb|Clarke|2018|p=35}}</ref> swamps, [[lagoon]]s, [[billabong]]s,<ref name=Oxford/> creeks, [[wiktionary:waterhole|waterhole]]s,{{Refn|name="mcneil"}} sometimes "particular waterholes in the riverbeds".{{sfn|Clarke|2018|p=40}}

Physical descriptions of bunyips vary widely. George French Angus may have collected a description of a bunyip in his account of a "water spirit" from the Moorundi people of the [[Murray River]] before 1847, stating it is "much dreaded by them&nbsp;... It inhabits the Murray; but&nbsp;... they have some difficulty describing it. Its most usual form&nbsp;... is said to be that of an enormous starfish."<ref>George French Angus (1847) ''Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand''. Vol 1, p.99. London. Reprinted 1969 Libraries Board of South Australia. {{ISBN|9781139107532}}</ref> The Challicum bunyip, an outline image of a bunyip carved by Aboriginal people into the bank of [[Fiery Creek (Victoria)|Fiery Creek]], near [[Ararat, Victoria|Ararat]], Victoria, was first recorded by ''[[The Australasian]]'' newspaper in 1851. According to the report, the bunyip had been speared after killing an Aboriginal man. Antiquarian Reynell Johns claimed that until the mid-1850s, Aboriginal people made a "habit of visiting the place annually and retracing the outlines of the figure [of the bunyip] which is about 11 paces long and 4 paces in extreme breadth".<ref>Johns cited in {{harvnb|Holden|2001|p = 176}}</ref> The outline image no longer exists.{{sfn|Holden|2001|p = 176}} Robert Brough Smyth's ''Aborigines of Victoria'' (1878) devoted ten pages to the bunyip, but concluded "in truth little is known among the blacks respecting its form, covering or habits; they appear to have been in such dread of it as to have been unable to take note of its characteristics".<ref>Smyth cited in {{harvnb|Holden|2001|p = 175}}</ref> Eugénie Louise McNeil recalled from her childhood memory in the 1890s that the bunyip supposedly had a snout like an owl ("a [[Australian boobook|Mopoke]]"), and was probably a [[nocturnal]] creature by her estimation.{{Refn|name="mcneil"|Crawford, Eugénie (1972). ''A Bunyip Close Behind Me''. quoted in Seal 1999, p. 15<ref name=seal/> and {{harvnb|Holden|2001|p=60}}. The informant of the childhood experience in the 1890s is not Crawford (as misattributed by Holden) but her mother, Eugénie Louise McNeil (1886–1983).}}

The bunyips presumably seen by witnesses, according to their descriptions, most commonly fit one of two categories: 60% of sightings resemble seals or swimming dogs, and 20% of sightings are of long-necked creatures with small heads; the remaining descriptions are ambiguous beyond categorisation. The seal-dog variety is most often described as being between 4 and 6 feet long with a shaggy black or brown [[Coat (animal)|coat]]. According to reports, these bunyips have round heads resembling a [[Bulldog breeds|bulldog]], prominent ears, no tail, and whiskers like a seal or otter. The long-necked variety is allegedly between 5 and 15 feet long, and is said to have black or brown fur, large ears, small tusks, a head like a horse or [[emu]], an elongated, [[mane (horse)|maned]] neck about three feet long and with many folds of skin, and a horse-like tail. The bunyip has been described by natives as [[amphibian|amphibious]], [[nocturnal]], reclusive, and inhabiting lakes, rivers, and [[swamp]]s. Bunyips, according to Aboriginal mythology, can swim swiftly with fins or flippers, have a loud, roaring call, and feed on [[crayfish]], though some legends portray them as bloodthirsty predators of humans, particularly women and children. As a result, Aboriginal People purposely avoided unfamiliar bodies of water lest there were bunyips lurking in the depths. Bunyip eggs are allegedly laid in [[platypus]] nests.<ref name=healy&cropper>{{Cite book|last1=Healy |first1=Tony |author1-link=<!--Tony Healy--> |last2=Cropper |first2=Paul |author2-link=<!--Paul Cropper--> |title=Out of the shadows : mystery animals of Australia |date=1994|publisher=Ironbark |isbn=0-330-27499-6|location=Chippendale [Australia] |url=<!--not previewable--> |pages=161–180 |oclc=31304800}}</ref>

The bunyip appears in [[Ngarrindjeri]] dreaming as a water spirit called the Mulyawonk, which would get anyone who took more than their fair share of fish from the waterways, or take children if they got too close to the water. The stories taught practical means of ensuring long-term survival for the Ngarrindjeri, embodying care for country and its people.<ref name=salleh2021>{{cite web | last=Salleh | first=Anna | title=Indigenous knowledge project could help save endangered Fleurieu Peninsula wetlands | website=ABC News | publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=27 May 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-05-28/indigenous-knowledge-values-relearnt-from-elders-and-scientists/100152406 | access-date=30 May 2021 | archive-date=29 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529054338/https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-05-28/indigenous-knowledge-values-relearnt-from-elders-and-scientists/100152406 | url-status=live }}</ref>