Case file · Cryptid
Chupacabra
A blood-draining creature blamed for livestock deaths, first reported in Puerto Rico.
1995 CE · 18.20, -66.40 · status: claim
The sceptical view
Most 'chupacabra' bodies are mange-afflicted coyotes or dogs.
The researched reading
A media-born monster whose physical evidence always turns out to be sick coyotes or dogs. The original description borrows from a science-fiction film.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 50% | Every chupacabra carcass tested (Texas and elsewhere) has been a coyote, dog or hybrid with severe sarcoptic mange, which causes hairlessness and a gaunt look; livestock deaths fit ordinary predators. |
| A cultural story | 20% | Benjamin Radford found the 1995 description by Madelyne Tolentino matched the alien in the film Species, which she had just seen; the legend spread across Latin America and the US through media. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 13% | Rural fear and media panic created a wave of reports that faded. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 8% | Some photos and claims were pranks or commercial stunts. |
| An unknown or out-of-place animal | 4% | No unknown animal has ever been confirmed. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 3% | No evidence of anything beyond known animals. |
| Undetermined | 2% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
Official position: No official investigation; veterinarians and biologists attributed carcasses to mangy canines.
How the account grew
Livestock deaths in Puerto Rico in 1995 gained a name from a radio comedian and a spiny, kangaroo-hopping reptilian form from one eyewitness; as reports spread north, the creature turned into a hairless dog-like animal that DNA tests repeatedly identified as mangy coyotes.
| Year | Who | Added |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Moca, Puerto Rico | Livestock found with small puncture wounds are blamed on 'el vampiro de Moca', first suspected to be a cult. |
| 1995 | Puerto Rican press; comedian Silverio Pérez | Eight sheep with chest punctures said to be drained of blood; Pérez coins 'chupacabras' on his radio show; over 200 reports that year. |
| 1995 | Madelyne Tolentino, Canóvanas | A 3–4 foot reptilian creature with spines along its back, standing upright and hopping; this becomes the classic image. |
| 1996 | Mexican and Latin American press | Reports spread to Mexico, Central and South America and the US Southwest amid drought-hit livestock killings; Chile follows in 2000 and Argentina in 2002, where officials blame foxes and dogs. |
| 2004 | Elmendorf, Texas rancher; UC Davis | A hairless dog-like 'beast' is killed; DNA shows a coyote with sarcoptic mange. The canine form now dominates. (dropped: The spiny upright reptile in US reports.) |
| 2010 | Barry O'Connor, University of Michigan | All US reports are coyotes with Sarcoptes scabiei, whose weakness drives them to easy prey. |
| 2011 | Benjamin Radford, Tracking the Chupacabra | Tolentino's description matches the alien Sil from the 1995 film Species, which she had seen; a veterinarian's study of 300 victims finds none drained of blood. (dropped: Blood-sucking as an established trait.) |
Connections in the atlas
- The chupacabras panic in Mexico
- Chupacabra
- Madelyne Tolentino’s chupacabra sighting
- Chiscas 'chupacabras', Boyacá
- Tracking the Chupacabra
- Tausa sheep killings
- Chupacabras of Calama
- The 'Moca vampire', Puerto Rico
- Orocovis sheep deaths, the first 'chupacabras' attack
- Madelyne Tolentino's sighting, Canóvanas
- Argentine cattle mutilation wave