Maero/Moehau

Maero/Moehau

Sometimes referred to as the giant Patupaiarehe. A savage, violent supernatural people covered in long black hair with knife-like fingernails and ranging in height from 8ft to 11ft.  Reports liken them to a Wildman or Sasquatch of Native American folklore.  They are reported as being cannilbalistic in nature and carry large stone clubs.  They reside in the bush and forests in various regions throughout New Zealand.

Some maori families in the Waikato and Rotorua regions claim to descend from these beings with some suggesting the Maero and Moehau are synonymous.

There are no reported sightings of the Maero however there are of the Moehau by gold prospectors in the 1870s and 1880s in the Coromandel region.  There have also been sightings of the Moehau as late as 1969, 1972 and 1983 with footprints being found as recently as 2000 in the Karangahake Gorge by Rex Gilroy, Australian Yowie expert.