#waitoreke

[labete-du-gevaudan]

These photos from 1971 are said to show the waitoreke, a cryptid from New Zealand. While some do believe that the images show a stoat or ferret. Stoats and ferrets are not necessarily native to New Zealand, but were introduced in the late 1800s to try and control an overpopulation of rabbits.

The waitoreke is a proposed small otter-like creature that resides in New Zealand. The name comes from the Māori language; “Wai” meaning water, and “To Reke” which means the spurs, so the animal’s name roughly translates to “water animal with the spurs”. It has a light brown coat that is spotted with white. In 1868, Gemand geologist Julius von Haast claimed to obtain a waitoreke pelt that looked similar to the eastern quoll. In addition to photo and pelt evidence, some believe that they have found tracks that could belong to the waitoreke.

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Waitoreke

Description: The only mammals native to New Zealand are bats, so when people claim to have seen an otter-like animal in South Island, it peaks zoological interests. The Waitoreke has been seen since the 18th century, with one of the most notable accounts coming from Captain James Cook.

[cryptids-cryptids-blog]

The Waitoreke is a New Zealand cryptid. It resembles a beaver or otter and is reported to be the size of a cat. It has been sighted periodically for over 200 years. 

Possible explanations for the waitoreke are an otter, beaver, seal, or quoll. Apart from reported sightings, little to no evidence exists supporting its existence. 

[source] 

[lpbestiary]

The waitoreke is an otter-like creature from the folklore of New Zealand. Described as being the size of a cat, with brown fur and short legs, it is most often seen in or near the water of New Zealand's South Island.

Several people have presented evidence of the waitoreke's existence. German geologist Julius von Haast found a spotted pelt in 1868, which was thought to belong to the waitoreke. Even the legendary explorer Captain James Cook claimed to have encountered the creature in 1772.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Waitoreke

Description: Are there otters, or otter like creatures on New Zealand’s South Island. Explorers from Captain Cook to Walter Mantell have claimed to see an otter like creature with white spots on its back. Maybe it was the newly introduced bushtail possum, though these sightings occurred before the species was introduced to New Zealand.

[cryptid-quest]

Cryptid of the Day: Waitoreke

Description: Are there otters, or otter like creatures on New Zealand’s South Island. Explorers from Captain Cook to Walter Mantell have claimed to see an otter like creature with white spots on its back. Maybe it was the newly introduced bushtail possum, though these sightings occurred before the species was introduced to New Zealand. 

[cryptids-of-the-world]

The Waitoreke is a semiaquatic mammal from New Zealand. The Waitoreke is described as an otter-like creature with beaver like features and a spotted back. The word “Wai” means water and “eke” means spurs in the Māori language. Experts believe the Waitoreke is a misidentified Eastern Quoll.

[frickwoodsmonster-blog]

WAITOREKE (pages 81-82)

    “In the middle of the nineteenth century, several settlers in New Zealand’s remote Canterbury Province reported the existence of an otherwise unknown otterlike creature called the waitoreke. Ferdinand von Hochstetter, writing about New Zealand in 1863, said that the waitoreke was one of those ‘few sporadic mammalia which have thus far escaped the searching eye.’ If the waitoreke really exists, it has still escaped the searching eye.

    “When Bernard Heuvelmans reviewed the evidence, he suggested that the waitoreke might be some wort of unknown otter, or even a type of large platypus. Naturalist S. J. Watson was more pessimistic, concluding that there was ‘very little ground’ for believing in the animal at all. But even he said that ‘it would be unwise to ignore the possibility [of the existence of the waitoreke] however remote it may be.’

    “Monster enthusiast Peter Costello unearthed a privately published 1964 pamphlet that contains many recent sightings of an unknown otterlike animal, mainly from an area of South Island in New Zealand, in the mountain country around Lake Ellesmere. Costello rejects the otter theory and points out that placental mammals like the otter are recent arrivals in New Zealand and Australia. There is one exception--the seal; several varieties of seal are found along the New Zealand coast. Costello believes that the identification of waitoreke with an otter was established on very little evidence and has never been properly examined. He concludes it is far more likely that the waitoreke is some sort of seal, perhaps of an unknown variety.”

“See also: BUNYIP”