By Tim Binnall
Residents of a village in Chile have begun to suspect that the infamous chupacabra could be behind a series of strange animal deaths that have befallen the community over the last few months. According to a local media report, the curious case is currently unfolding in the town of Central Citani, which is near the border of Bolivia. Back in November, a handful of llamas and alpacas died under mysterious circumstances in which their blood was seemingly drained from their bodies. Although the initial incidents were attributed to ne'er-do-wells of the human variety, as the attacks continued to occur over the course of several weeks, villagers began to wonder if something more sinister and potentially supernatural could be to blame.
Farmer Juan Choque explained that the slain creatures are more often than not juvenile llamas and alpacas, which is rather inexplicable since "it does not suit anyone." The thought that a person residing in the village might be the culprit has been largely dismissed because, he mused, "no one could have such evil." As "the deaths went on and on," reaching a whopping 50 killed animals as of this week, some members of the community put forward the theory that their town has become a proverbial hunting ground for the notorious cryptid known as the chupacabra.
While skeptics will say that the chupacabra does not exist and is merely an urban legend which has, in this case, spawned something of a hysteria, Choque takes the possibility seriously and has gone so far as to put up lights around his property in the hopes of fending off the blood-sucking beast. His mystification at the animal deaths has been echoed by another rancher, who observed that the predator "does not eat the meat, nor the entrails. I have never seen anything like this. It attacks at night and the animals seem not to defend the baby."
Looking to get to the bottom of the mystery in Central Citani, local officials enlisted experts to examine the downed creatures, but their analysis proved futile as they found that the attacks did not appear to have been committed by known predators in the area. As such, additional tests have been ordered on the animals in the hopes that some kind of clue might emerge which will help close the case. Until then, farmers like Choque are forced to wait and hope that neither they nor their livestock fall victim to the mysterious creature which has the whole community on edge.