Encounter Atlas

Creature index / Hairy hominids

Moehau monster

Also called Moehau, Maeroero, Hairy Moehau, New Zealand wild man

A hairy wild man said to live in the bush of the Moehau Range on New Zealand's Coromandel Peninsula.

The Moehau monster is a hairy, man-like creature said to live in the bush of the Moehau Range at the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. Some Māori link it to the maero, wild giants or 'wild men of the woods' in older stories.

One popular explanation was an escaped pet baboon from a ship anchored in the bay, but Auckland Zoo's director said such an animal could not survive in the New Zealand bush.

In 1970 local people told researcher Robyn Gosset that the 'hairy Moehau' started as a joke, and that the name 'Moehau Monster' had once been the nickname of an American steam log hauler. New Zealand has no native apes, and no evidence has been found.

What witnesses report

  • A tall, hairy figure in thick bush
  • Large tracks
  • Screams in the forest

Famous cases

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    Related

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