In the 1880s, sightings of a "saurian monster" abounded in New Zealand.
Local accounts and legends of an ancient monster helped fan the flames
of the mystery. But what was the creature that terrorized New Zealand in the 1880s?
The original inhabitants of New Zealand are known as the Maori. But when the West came to this new
frontier of islands, by 1881, New Zealand already boasted a non-native population of almost 490,000.
Five years later, the nation reached a significant milestone.
For the first time in its history, a majority of the non-Maori population
living on the island had been born there. They weren’t immigrants.
Yet, despite campaigns to bring in more women, young men continued to dominate the population,
and many longed for a taste of one of the world's final frontiers.
The rustic island continued to have trouble attracting women and families,
although local governments tried various schemes to do so. But they didn't take.
Starting in 1879, New Zealand experienced an economic depression. Unemployment spiked,
and many individuals moved away, attracted by the bright lights of Australia.
Although silver linings existed, such as the first successful exportation of meat
stored in ice to Great Britain, a financial recovery wouldn't take hold until the 1890s.
In that time, the nation's frontier remained filled with possibility as explorers continued
to push into its impenetrable terrain. Along the way, unexplained sightings started to emerge.
Into this climate of growing pains came a fascinating story that placed the world's
attention on New Zealand. It contained all of the intrigue and suspense of an
excellent cryptid tale: strange sightings, local legends, and, eventually, physical evidence.
"They're folktales born out of some collective fear of the unknown."
"How many folktales do you know that could eat a Boy Scout leader and a biologist?"
In 1886, slaughter yard employees made a gruesome discovery near Hamilton, New Zealand. Something
had taken a sheep carcass from the meat hook where it hung. The sheep's remains were picked clean
of all flesh. Beyond the devoured creature, few clues of what happened remained at the scene. No
hair samples where the thieving animal had brushed against a fence post or tree existed, and it left
behind no waste to study and analyze. But locals did find a trail of unidentifiable animal tracks.
Speculation soon gripped the nation as whispers of an aquatic reptilian monster emerged.
On October 1, these whispers entered the public record as the New Zealand
Herald ventured an account of the mysterious happenings, beginning with the understatement,
"This creature's appearance has created quite a sensation."
Despite the lack of clues, some locals quickly latched
onto sensational conclusions about the incident. Men armed themselves,
ready to hunt the strange creature. Based on scant evidence left by the so-called monster,
some New Zealanders claimed it pointed to "undoubted traces of a saurian monster."
The term "saurian monster" refers to a "lizard-like" creature. In other words,
anything from a crocodile to a reptilian cryptid. Interestingly, science may have contributed to
the hysteria. How? According to researchers Darren Nash and Charles Paxton, the discovery
of new marine reptile fossils appeared to inspire upticks in 19th-century reports of sea monsters.
Reports also morphed to reflect the latest scientific finds.
Nash and Paxton concluded that after 1850, the traditional sea serpent concept was
replaced by a monster featuring four or more fins and a prominent neck.
This neck was a feature visible in the skeletons of mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.
But New Zealand had a severe credibility problem when it came to "saurian monster" claims.
Of the 110 lizard species native to the country, all fall into two reptilian families:
geckos and skinks. These reptiles rarely surpass half a foot. How could one grow large enough to
steal and devour a sheep carcass suspended from a meat hook? The Waikato Times wrote,
"Crocodile or what? To be sure, the idea of a crocodile making his way
unobserved from warmer latitudes across the ocean and taking up
his residence in the vicinity of Hamilton is very laughable."
Sightings of the saurian monster exploded. One of the most famous reports came from a farm in
Hamilton owned by one Mr. Castleton, on October 1, 1886. According to his wife, the first of their
sons to spot the strange creature got chased back into their house. When the boy finally
made it inside, she thought he might faint from sheer panic. But that wasn't the last encounter.
According to Mr. Castleton, his sons had a second experience with the creature as
it swam by in the river. The boys kept watch for the animal after the initial
incident and frequently stood at a spot where they could see a long section of the creek.
They observed a commotion in the water and saw the creature swimming down the creek.
Apparently, its head was the only thing above water.
In the article detailing the events, the local Constable expressed complete faith in the boys'
account. The Herald also refuted claims by other newspapers that the boys had witnessed something
else, like feral pigs. They noted that both boys regularly hunted escaped pigs that stumbled onto
their father's farm, making it difficult to believe they could be so easily mistaken.
That said, the paper also provided Castleton with a clear motive for faking the sightings, stating
that he believed its capture and exhibition would be a source of significant income.
During a follow-up report by the New Zealand Herald on October 2, 1886, the Castleton boys
provided a detailed description of the so-called monster. The older of the two boys described
the creature as measuring roughly 4.5 feet long, with a tapered rear. The boys estimated the head
comprised half the length of its body, which they claimed was covered in brownish-colored scales.
When asked to compare the saurian monster to other animals they'd seen in the New Zealand wilderness,
one boy described a foot-long lizard he'd crossed paths with the previous year. They showed
journalists the location where they claim they'd seen the creature. One reporter described it as a
"wild out-of-the-world spot." The story contained all of the elements of an ideal cryptid sighting.
The New Zealand Herald came to a fascinating hypothesis by interweaving the boys' statements
with native accounts of a very large animal, like an eel, which would come out of the water
at times and chased people. The local Maori called this fantastical creature the taniwha.
The Maori first arrived from eastern Polynesia to New Zealand through canoe
expeditions in the 13th and 14th centuries. After centuries of inhabiting the islands,
they developed a body of folklore about supernatural creatures, including the taniwha.
Lurking in the nation's lakes, caves, oceans, and rivers, taniwha ranged in appearance.
Some Maori legends describe dragon-like winged reptiles.
Others suggest sea serpents or even whales and porpoises.
But did the Maori see these mythological creatures as actual flesh-and-blood animals?
According to a letter to the Wellington Press:
"The general impression among our earliest settlers was that
natives then living, or certainly their grandfathers, had seen [the taniwha]."
The letter writer also noted that many Maori descriptions of the creature included details
reminiscent of an alligator. In 2002, an event occurred which appears to support
the letter's first claim that the Maori saw the taniwha as physical creatures. That year,
a tribe in Waikato opposed and permanently stopped the construction of a highway.
Why? Because they said its location would destroy a local taniwha ecosystem.
Up to this point, New Zealanders thought the worst the saurian monster could do was peel
the flesh from sheep. But the Maori concept of the taniwha, a human-devouring monster, both thrilled
and terrified them. According to a report that appeared in the Thames Star on October 5, 1886:
"[A] year ago, near the same spot a native girl was found dead in a
stream in that vicinity with the flesh stripped from one arm."
Besides native tales of the taniwha, more eyewitness reports surfaced. These included
the account of two tourists who claimed they witnessed a strange creature swimming in the
Waikato River with a head like an alligator. The Thames Star also noted that a teacher at a local
school observed the alleged cryptid swimming in a sea-serpent fashion in the river. The creature
seemed to use its tail in the water, propelling it forward like other swimming reptiles.
Had the tourists and schoolteacher seen the taniwha? No one could say for sure. What's more,
people remained just as divided about sightings of the creature as they were about its identity.
While newspapers like the New Zealand Herald proposed an alligator, others like the Thames
Star left room for other possibilities. These possibilities included sea-serpent-like creatures
capable of tolerating the brackish waters of the Waikato, New Zealand's longest river.
As reports continued to flood in and New Zealanders became more and more aware of
the Maori’s views on the creature, a radically new vision of the saurian monster menacing the
coastline emerged. Two men in canoes had an encounter with cryptid on the Waikato river,
claiming it nearly capsized their boats. How did they describe the strange creature?
They reported an animal "of immense size with large jaws showing jagged teeth.
The body was covered with long shaggy black hair."
The saurian monster had suddenly morphed into a big, hairy beast,
if the two canoers were to be believed. Of course,
reconciling this new depiction with that of earlier reports by the Castleton boys proved
challenging. Was the beast they had seen the same as the Castleton boys? There was some doubt.
"Westley, what about the ROUSes?"
"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."
The boys described a large, scaly reptile, not an ebony-haired mammal. The hairy report
also conflicted with the traditional Maori accounts of the serpent or eel-like taniwha.
Despite the contradictions associated with this new sighting, subsequent
developments in the story appeared to bolster the last two men's claims.
After months of searching, the saurian monster met its end along the coast near Raglan.
According to the Patea Mail on November 10, 1887, a Maori man in a canoe off Raglan Harbor
saw a giant animal sleeping on the beach. After assembling a group of men, they approached the
animal. The monster awakened, reacting by, quote, "grunting, barking and snapping its ugly jaws."
After the men shot the animal, it perished on the beach. The Maori measured the creature,
reporting it as "11 feet in length, and six feet in circumference." They dragged it to
Raglan's wharf, where a crane positioned it for inspection by curious and confounded onlookers.
What did the Maoris present at the wharf? Something unlike any previous eyewitness
descriptions. It wasn't a crocodile or an alligator, and it didn't have a thick, black,
shaggy coat. Instead, the creature bore a fine layer of fur, from head to tail,
along with two flippers and no ears. Journalists also noted that it had a "mouth that could swallow
a man" with "16 teeth in each jaw, four of them being like tusks." Other reports described it as
having "two large screw-like propellers in lieu of a tail" and a head "like that of a leopard."
It had a svelte, silverish body and a stomach stuffed full of dead birds, as opposed to mutton.
After the creature was captured and killed, a local settler bought its carcass.
He planned to travel New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and the United States exhibiting the
ferocious taxidermied cryptid, but then news emerged that thwarted his plans. The so-called
saurian monster was nothing more than a seal. A report on November 26, 1887, outed the monster
as a harmless gray seal, and the Patea Mail called it a "sea elephant." Gray seals don't live in
New Zealand, so what gives? Researchers today hypothesize it was a case of mistaken identity.
The nation boasts two types of seals, New Zealand fur seals and southern elephant seals.
Large male fur seals measure up to 8.2 feet long, with bewhiskered heads you could construe as
"leopard-like." What about the "sea elephant" claim? On rare occasions,
southern elephant seals visit New Zealand's beaches, and adult males grow up to 16 feet long.
Carnivorous marine mammals, elephant seals spend 80 percent of their time in the water and the
remainder on land. On sandy surfaces, elephant seals can outrun humans. In some respects,
the southern elephant seal most closely fits aspects of each eyewitness’s story.
While molting, their skin can even take on a brownish scale-like appearance.
But could one tear the flesh from a girl's arm? Perhaps.
Seals have been known to attack and even kill humans on occasion. But incidents of such attacks
are rare. Still, there's no denying an aggressive bull can do severe damage.
Australian adventurer and cryptid investigator Tony Healy got in on the taniwha action in 2018.
He spent seven weeks in New Zealand, scouring the mainland and islands for cryptids.
He visited locations known for taniwha sightings, although he never saw one himself.
Healy isn't the only cryptozoologist exploring mythical creatures in New Zealand. The "Land of
Kiwis" proves one of the most popular geographic locations when it comes to looking for mythical
creatures, from moa to kokako, large black cats, and even supposed moose living in the Fiordland.
The continued search for strange new life has even included animals whose existences we now
take for granted, like the Komodo dragon and the platypus. Many people also forget that
mountain gorillas were considered the stuff of fairy tales as recently as 1902.
That's when Robert von Beringe, a German captain, first verified their existence.
After examining the subject in-depth, what was Healy's conclusion when it came to the taniwha?
The famed cryptozoologist reported,
"To me, it's interesting that non-Maori have been claiming sightings of these creatures. The Maori,
if I understand it right, they don't actually believe these things
are flesh and blood animals, but some kind of guardian spirits."
That's definitely one theory New Zealanders in 1887 didn't fully explore.
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