Puerto Rico (1995)
Puerto Rico (1995)
The Chupacabra has had many distinct, detailed descriptions. Some of the early sightings describe the Chupacabra as a winged reptilian creature with glowing red eyes that would descend from the sky. Others describe a crouching humanoid with hairy arms and beady eyes. The most common description however, is a canid with:
The first recorded account of El Chupacabra comes from a woman named Madelyne Tolentino, from March of 1995. Tolentino was a Puerto Rican rancher who lived in a small town known as Canóvanas. Sometime during the night, her ranch was invaded by an unknown creature, which killed eight sheep. But the sheep weren't just killed... they were found drained of all blood. As the nights progressed, more and more animals were being killed by this mysterious creature. By August, at least 150 livestock in Canóvanas had been mutilated by what was being known by townsfolk as "El Chupacabra," or The Goatsucker (because of its propensity toward goats). These mysterious animal killings began to spread, and reports of El Chupacabra were seen from the Caribbean, to South America, to the southern half of the United States. By 1996, over 1000 killings were attributed to El Chupacabra worldwide.
As you've probably guessed, El Chupacabra wasn't just a single, lone monster. The killings which were attributed to this monster are actually most likely to be canid hybrids with mange. Their distinct, quadruped look never quite matched up with any specific species of canid. But it's been known that dogs, hyenas, coyotes, jackals, and other canids have the ability to interbreed. Their genetic makeup is close enough that we can get animals like wolfdogs and coydogs, among other things. The distinctive spots along their body are likely to be mange, which can cause bright, crusty lesions to form on the dog's body. As awareness of Chupacabras rose, so did vigilance about them. As time went on, we caught multiple pictures of the supposed Chupacabra on camera, as well as people claiming to have killed Chupacabras. Reports of El Chupacabra still come up to this day, but scientists have long realized that they're just mangey mutts.
Quite possibly the only picture of the Chupacabra in action