Chupacabra

Chupacabra
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Chupacabras Creature
Grouping Cryptid
Data
First reported March 1995
Country Puerto Rico
Mexico
United States
Region Central and North America

The chupacabras[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃupaˈkaβɾas], from chupar "to suck" and cabra "goat", literally "goat sucker"), is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities.[2] The name comes from the animal's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats.

Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1995 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

Biologists and wildlife management officials view the chupacabras as a contemporary legend.[3]

In July 2010, a chupacabra-like creature was reported killed, but found to be a coyote with a severe parasite infection. In October of that year, University of Michigan scientists theorised that parasite-riddled coyotoes (specifically the parasites responsible for scabies and mange) were likely the basis for the chupacabra legend. [4]