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The Chupacabra is a cryptid whose first known sightings occurred in Puerto Rico during the 1970s, with subsequent eyewitness accounts in the mid-1990s causing scares in Florida and Mexico. It has also been reported in the American Southwest. The reports have spread around the world, particularly in Spanish-speaking areas. While not as well known as Bigfoot, it has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring appearances in songs, movies, and comic books.

Contents 1 History 2 Theories 3 Nonfiction 3.1 Books 4 Fiction 4.1 Movies 4.2 Television 5 Popular Culture 6 See Also 7 External Links

History

Public alarm over El Chupacabra has spread to Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Armed searches for El Chupacabra have been made in recent years in Argentina and Chile, as a reaction to more than 200 unexplained animal mutilations. So far, no conclusive findings have been reported.

Resembling a massive, bipedal vampire bat with black hair, long sharp teeth and glowing red eyes, El Chupacabra is notorious for attacking livestock (and sometimes people), reportedly draining its victims' blood through a single puncture wound. This accounts for the irreverent English translation of its name: "The Goatsucker."

While sometimes treated humorously, the depradations of El Chupacabra were taken seriously in Puerto Rico. The mayor of Canovanas, Jose "Chemo" Soto, led expeditions to deal with the creature.

Theories

• El Chupacabra is an alien, perhaps accompanying more intelligent aliens
• El Chupacabra was created by the U.S. military
• El Chupacabra is an unrecognized species
• El Chupacabra is a case of typical animal predation, combined with urban legend

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"laceratus bestia erant laxus evestigatus potuisse simplex eaten per torva bestia." For those who can't read Latin, the mutilated animals were discovered to have been simply eaten by wild animals.

This was the opinion of the director of Puerto Rico's Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services Division, Hector Garcia.

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Note: Other versions of the name are used, including: "El Chupacabras," "La Chupacabra," "Los Chupacabras," and "Las Chupacabras." The latter two are plural forms.

Nonfiction

Books

Chupacabras: and Other Mysteries by Scott Corrales. ISBN 978-1883729066

Fiction

Movies

Legend of the Chupacabra (2000)

Television

Chupacabra Terror (2005)

Popular Culture

• A team on the World Series of Pop Culture (VH1 2006) was named El Chupacabra
• In the "Catch-22" episode of Lost, Hurley starts to tell a story about El Chupacabra around the campfire

See Also

• Paranormal guides
• Quest Magazine

External Links

• Ghosts, Hauntings and Legends by Hal Siemer, Quest Magazine.