Chupacabra

The chupacabra, literally "goat-sucker," is a legendary predator blamed for killing livestock and draining their blood through small puncture wounds, leaving carcasses oddly bloodless with no other visible trauma. Descriptions of the creature differ sharply: early witnesses described a spiny, kangaroo-like reptilian biped with glowing red eyes, while later, especially in the continental United States, the name got attached to hairless, coyote-like animals suffering from mange. The panic began in Puerto Rico in 1995, when a wave of mysteriously mutilated farm animals swept the island, particularly around the town of Canóvanas, and quickly spread through Latin America and the American Southwest amid heavy media coverage. Veterinarians and biologists have generally attributed the killings to known predators such as dogs, coyotes and wild cats, with decomposition effects explaining the apparent lack of blood, and mangy canids photographed as "chupacabras" turning out to be ordinary animals with severe skin disease. It remains one of the most recognizable modern legends across Latin America.