Animal Science

Have you heard of the chupacabra? Its Spanish name means "goat sucker". The chupacabra was named for the reported attacking and blood-drinking of livestock. Most curious are the reports of the screech of the chupacabra, at which time its eyes glow a shade of red that causes witnesses to become nauseated.

I had never heard of the chupacabra until a recent CR4 bloggers' meeting. This creature is legendary in Puerto Rico, but has allegedly been sighted as far north as Maine in the United States and as far south as Chile in South America. Because I will be visiting Puerto Rico in December, I decided to do some research.

What is a Chupacabra?

There are three main descriptions of the chupacabra:

• As a reptile-like creature with scaly green-gray skin.; scales or spines reportedly run down its back. The height of the animal is estimated to be three-to-four feet tall and said to travel in a hopping motion similar to a kangaroo – as far as 20 feet. It has a nose like a dog or panther and a forked tongue with fangs. It smells like sulfur and hisses and screeches with red eyes.
• As a wallaby-like creature with coarse, gray fur. It has a dog-like head, large with large teeth. This version also stands and hops like a kangaroo.
• Or as a dog-like creature the size of a small bear; hairless with a pronounced spinal ridge, fangs, and claws.

The chupacabra preys on livestock and other animals and drains blood and organs through two holes in the body.

New Species or Urban Legend?

Despite an appearance in an animated film, the chupacabra does not appear in many scientific resources. In fact, apart from alleged sightings on websites, the only "evidence" appears to be puncture wounds in the necks of the animals' prey. (Sounds like it could also be vampires, right?)

A woman discovered what she thought could be a chupacabra head near her Texas ranch in 2007. She planned to have its DNA tested to confirm it was not just a dog or coyote, but perhaps a hybrid of sorts, and maybe part chupacabra. In November 2007, a month after the discovery of the carcass, biologists at Texas State University announced the DNA sequence was just about the same as a coyote.

What about the more than 2,000 reported cases of animal mutilations in Puerto Rico that have been blamed on chupacabras? Authorities blame stray dogs or a panther, which could have been illegally introduced to the island. Panthers would also explain the screeching and screaming – something less likely attributed to a dog.

As far as the images I saw in my research, they did look like hybrid dog-coyote crosses or mutated coyotes. The cartoon caricatures were far more frightening than the actual photographs! Fearful people are likely to believe anything. I've also learned that the longer you look at something, the more likely you can turn it into just about whatever you'd like to believe.

What do you think about the chupacabra?

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369903/

http://www.crystalinks.com/chupacabras.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295481,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21595838/

http://www.skepdic.com/chupa.html

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/expats/expats_news/2039508/Panther-in-Puerto-Rico.html

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/lost-tapes/chupacabra/history/

http://www.kcra.com/irresistible/20661717/detail.html