Encounter Atlas
The bukavac is a demon of Serbian folklore, known especially in Syrmia (Srem), the flat farmland between the Danube and Sava rivers. It was imagined as a six-legged beast with gnarled horns and bright eyes that lived in lakes and ponds.
At night it came out of the water making a loud bellowing roar, which gives it its name (buka means noise). It was said to leap onto people or animals near the water and strangle them.
It is a folklore being rather than a modern sighting report. One down-to-earth idea links the noise to the booming call of the bittern, a marsh bird that is called 'bukavac' in Serbian.
What witnesses report
- A loud bellowing from a pond at night
- A horned, many-legged shape leaving the water
- Animals found strangled near water
Famous cases
Seen the Bukavac?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
