Creature record / 2000
August 2000. Malpaisillo, in Nicaragua's León department. For two weeks, something came for the sheep at night. Jorge Luis Talavera lost 25 animals at the San Lorenzo farm. A neighbour lost 35. Dozens of farmers set ambushes. Every trap failed. Then came the shotgun blasts. And the remains. To the farmers, they did not look like any ordinary dog. Pink fangs. Large eye cavities. A crest along the spine. A local veterinarian called it a hybrid made in a laboratory. The university called it a dog. Talavera disagreed. "This isn't my goatsucker."
Puerto Rico, 1995. In Canóvanas, Madelyne Tolentino gave the chupacabra the description that would define it. According to the EFE news agency, farmers in western Nicaragua had reported chupacabras attacks several years before 2000. But no remains had ever been recovered.