Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Cryptids: Chupacabra

The chupacabra or chupacabras(Spanish pronunciation: [tʃupaˈkaβɾas], literally 'goat-sucker';from Spanish: chupar, 'to suck', and cabras, 'goats')is a legendary creature in the folklore of parts of the Americas,with its first purported sightings reported in Puerto Rico in 1995.The name comes from the animal's reported vampirism—the chupacabrais said to attack and drink the blood of livestock, including goats.

Physical descriptions of the creaturevary. It is purportedly a heavy creature the size of a small bear,with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

Eyewitness sightings have been claimedin Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine,as far south as Chile, and even outside the Americas in countrieslike Russia and the Philippines. Many of the reports have beendisregarded as uncorroborated or lacking evidence. Sightings innorthern Mexico and the southern United States have been verified ascanids afflicted by mange. According to biologists and wildlifemanagement officials, the chupacabra is an urban legend

Name

Chupacabras can be literally translatedas 'goat-sucker', from chupar ('to suck') and cabras('goats'). It is known as both chupacabras and chupacabrathroughout the Americas, with the former being the original word, andthe latter a regularization of it. The name is attributed to PuertoRican comedian Silverio Pérez, who coined the label in 1995 whilecommenting on the attacks as a San Juan radio deejay.

History

The first reported attack eventuallyattributed to the creatures occurred in March 1995 in Puerto Rico. Eight sheep were discovered dead, each with three puncture wounds inthe chest area and reportedly completely drained of blood. A fewmonths later, in August, an eyewitness named Madelyne Tolentinoreported seeing the creature in the Puerto Rican town of Canóvanas,when as many as 150 farm animals and pets were reportedly killed. In1975, similar killings in the small town of Moca were attributed toel vampiro de Moca ('the vampire of Moca'). Initially, it wassuspected that the killings were committed by a Satanic cult; latermore killings were reported around the island, and many farmsreported loss of animal life. Each of the animals was reported tohave had its body bled dry through a series of small circularincisions.

Puerto Rican comedian and entrepreneurSilverio Pérez is credited with coining the term chupacabras soonafter the first incidents were reported in the press. Shortly afterthe first reported incidents in Puerto Rico, other animal deaths werereported in other countries, such as the Dominican Republic,Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador,Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Brazil, the United States, and Mexico.

In October and December 2018, therecame many reports of suspected chupacabras in Manipur, India. Manydomestic animals and poultry were killed in a suspicious mannersimilar to other chupacabra attacks, and several people reported thatthey had seen chupacabras. However, forensic experts opined thatstreet dogs were responsible for mass killing of domestic animals andpoultry after studying the remnants of a corpse.

In October 2019, a video recorded byMundo Ovni showed a supposed attack on chickens in the Seburuquillosector of Lares, Puerto Rico.