Argentine cattle mutilation wave
In 2002 ranchers across the Pampas reported cows found dead with lips, tongues, udders and eyes neatly removed, and the press blamed UFOs and chupacabras.
2002 CE · -36.60, -62.50 · status: explained
The account
Reports began in the first half of 2002 in Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Córdoba and neighbouring provinces and ran to hundreds of animals. Argentina's animal-health agency SENASA and university veterinarians examined carcasses and concluded the animals died of natural causes and that the 'surgical' cuts were made by scavengers, notably wild mice (Akodon) and foxes that eat soft tissue first, with dry skin shrinking to leave clean-looking edges.
The sceptical view
The official finding matches studies elsewhere: soft parts are lost first to scavengers, insects and bloating, which produces the 'bloodless' look.
Connections in the atlas
- Chupacabras of Calama
- The 'Moca vampire', Puerto Rico
- The FBI 'Rommel Report'
- The 1970s mutilation wave
- Chupacabra