El Chupacabra: Did a Sick Dog Spawn an Urban Legend?

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Leaving a trail of bloodless livestock in its wake, the chupacabra has allegedly haunted Puerto Rico and Mexico for over quarter of a century without ever being "caught."  The question is, could there be a real animal behind chupacabra encounters?  Let's take a look at...

  • The Legend of El Chupacabra: Chupacabra-like attacks have been reported since the 1970s
  • Known Vampires: Could blood-drinking birds or bats be responsible?
  • Monkey Business: Is the humanoid appearance due to escaped research monkeys?
  • Barks in the Dark: Could mange-infested canines be responsible for sightings and attacks?
  • Hollywood Inspiration: Did the sci-fi movie "Species" influence sightings?
  • Forensic Thoughts: Could attacks be explained by normal decomposition?
A prowling coyote
Some blame sick coyotes... (Canadian-Nature-Visions)

The Legend of El Chupacabra

They say that a stealthy vampire slinks through the wilds of Latin America.  They call it el Chupacabra, the goat-sucker - though the stories say it will sup the hearts-blood of any livestock it can reach.

Though the name chupacabra first crops up around 1995, the legend may have begun with the "Vampire of Moca" that menaced 1970s Puerto Rico.  This creature supposedly attacked animals and drained their blood, though local opinions differed as to whether is was animal, alien or undead.

In the 1990s these attacks seemed to intensify, with exsanguinated animals left to rot where they fell. The situation got so out of hand that the mayor of Canóvanas started conducting weekly hunts using a caged goat as bait. It was also around this time that the term chupacabra first cropped up, with credit usually being given to comedian Silverio Pérez.

Those that claimed to have seen the creature gave a fairly strange description - a roughly meter high biped with greyish fur and spikes protruding from its back.  This description would subtly morph as people in other countries started to report sightings, taking on a canine appearance.

A worried-looking goat
Is it right to look worried? (NickyPe)

Known Vampires

Though not incredibly common, there are animals that can and will drink blood if given the chance.  

Vampire bats are quite happy to help themselves to farmyard blood, but are not found on Puerto Rico - the flight over the ocean would be asking a lot of these tiny, blood-dependent creatures.  There's also the fact that a vampire bat can only take a tiny amount of blood (we're talking a teaspoon or so) from prey.  

Oxpecker birds are blood drinkers as well, with a name that even seems rather similar to the goat-sucker!  These birds sit on the backs of animals in the African savannah and peck away ticks... but will also drink from (and even enlarge or open fresh) wounds on their host.  

Even if these creatures ended up on Puerto Rico and managed to evade detection, the amount of blood they could take wouldn't fell a goat.  There's also the fact that neither of these creatures match the reported descriptions of the chupacabra.

A rhesus macaque
Could lost monkeys be the culprit? (rajking4)

Monkey Business

Did you know that a population of rhesus macaques have been living on an island less than a mile from the Puerto Rico mainland since 1938?

There's no direct evidence linking these primates to the original chupacabra sightings, but if one managed to swim to the mainland it could explain the descriptions of the chupacabra. These smallish (they can reach around two thirds of a meter high) primates can rear back on their hind legs and have gray-fur.  They also have tails that might resemble spikes in poor light.

Rhesus macaques are omnivores but they generally don't attack animals as big as a goat - though they might be willing to scavenge from a corpse.  On the other hand, they have been known to bite and scratch humans on occasion!

A coyote licking its lips
Livestock could be an easy-to-catch meal... (usuario322)

Barks in the Dark

The legend of the chupacabra didn't stay confined to Puerto Rico - it moved into Mexico, with its appearance morphing on the way.  This new version of the chupacabra often resembled a grey-blue canine creature, quadrupedal, hairless and boasting prominent fangs. It did retain the original habit of attacking livestock though!

There is a potentially mundane explanation for these new sightings - coyotes infested with a terminal case of mites.

Sarcoptes scabiei is the mite responsible for scabies.  It makes a home beneath the skin, where the eggs and waste it produces can cause a nasty rash in humans - infestations in non-primates can be much more severe.  Domestic dogs are thought to have passed the disease on to foxes, wolves and other canids as mange.  Infested coyotes may find their blood vessels constricting and hair falling out, leaving them fatigued, sickly and with exposed and withered skin.  Sounds a bit like a chupacabra, doesn't it?

These sickly canids might not be up to hunting their usual prey - so perhaps they would try their luck with livestock. Failed attacks (remember, this coyote is not in great shape) could leave livestock bleeding to death or dying of shock as the coyote fled.  If an artery was severed in the attack, the victim may even have lost a great deal of blood before staggering to the place it died! 

Flying saucers in a forest
Could the legend be inspired by a sci-fi film? (tombud)

Hollywood Inspiration

Around the same time that the descriptions of the humanoid, greyish and spiky chupacabra started emerging, Hollywood released a sci-fi horror film called Species.  The alien antagonist of the film "Sil" could take the form of a humanoid with chitinous greyish skin and pronounced spikes running down her back.

Given the timing of the film (and the flurry of adverts) it may be possible that chupacabra "witnesses" were subconsciously drawing on the film when trying to describe something they saw in the dark.  To the relief (or perhaps disappointment, I'm not judging) of sci-fi fans, the fictional femme-fatale has never claimed responsibility for the attacks!

Animal bones
Perhaps it's just the way things rot... (PublicDomainPictures)

Forensic Thoughts 

Ok, this final bit is a little gruesome.  While we have identified some possible culprits for chupacabra sightings, we still don't have a great explanation for the missing blood.  But what if the blood wasn't  actually missing?

Most chupacabra kills have been reported by members of the public, who generally lack forensic training.  Perhaps a reported lack of blood could be explained by livor mortis - blood pooling in the parts of the body lowest to the ground, leaving the top "bloodless."

There's also the fact that corpses tend to build up pressure (click this link at your discretion - it shows the process on a piglet carcass) as they decay, forcing blood and other fluids out or into the body cavity.  Meanwhile ruptures (often looking like strange wounds) can open in the flesh, providing a further drain for blood.

In the warm conditions of Latin America, perhaps perfectly natural (but understandably misinterpreted) decomposition is the real chupacabra!

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