The Chupacabras or Goatsuckers

In March of 1995 the tiny island of Puerto Rico experienced a mysterious wave of animal deaths and mutilations in which the animals were found sucked dry of blood, usually with puncture wounds on their bodies. That September residents of Puerto Rico began to report encounters with a being that would become known as the Chupacabras, or “Goatsucker”, since one of its favorite types of prey were goats.

To quote the description given in Coleman and Clark’s Cryptozoology: A to Z, “It was said to be hairy, about four feet tall, with a large, round head, a lipless mouth, sharp fangs, and huge, lidless red eyes. Its body was small, with thin, clawed, seemingly webbed arms with muscular hind legs. The hairy creature also had a series of pointy spikes running from the top of its head down its backbone.” The Chupacabras quickly became an international sensation as the drawings and reports of the animal were disseminated over the Internet to researchers and news outlets worldwide, bringing global attention to the wave of sightings taking place in Puerto Rico. The phenomenon soon spread to the rest of Latin America and then to parts of the southwestern United States such as Texas and Arizona, being predominantly reported in Hispanic communities.

Researcher Nick Redfern, along with the Centre for Fortean Zoology, has conducted extensive research into the Chupacabras mystery, actually traveling to Puerto Rico twice in 2004 and 2005 to collect eyewitness testimony and valuable data about the creature. Their work has shown that the Chupacabras phenomenon is still an ongoing one and that Puerto Rico remains a hotspot for encounters with the goat-sucking beast.

4 / 5 Review by expert member Brian Gaugler

‘Chupacabras’

Said to drink the blood of livestock, Chupacabras are a recent addition to the list of unconfirmed ... Read more »

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