Come across a chupacabra or a thylacine online? You might have questions about these strange creatures, one legendary and one formerly found on Earth.
The internet has long been fascinated with tales about strange creatures. Whether that’s curiosity about the likes of the legendary Big Foot or of now-extinct animals such as dinosaurs and mammoths, the internet is filled with secrets to uncover about such beings.
But recently there has been renewed interest in a longstanding theory that chupacabras are linked to the real-life animals thylacines. This is as a chupacabras was reportedly sighted in Amarillo, Texas back in May 2022.
So, are chupacabras just thylacines found in the wrong place at the wrong time?
The internet has its suspicions about chupacabras
There is a running theory online linking chupacabras to thylacines. Some believe that the chupacabra might exist and be a descendent of the thylacine.
This theory posits that there was a ship headed to New York City with two breeding thylacine on board. This ship crashed and the two marsupials were never found. The theory then goes that the two thylacine continued their genetic line in the Americas, which eventually saw the evolution of the chupacabras.
There is no credibility to this theory, given that it is largely based on internet rumor.
About the chupacabras folklore
The folklore surrounding chupacabras, or the “goat sucker” as they’re also known, originates in 1995. That summer saw a wave of livestock killings in Puerto Rico which had many questioning whether a supernatural force was at hand. Then the sightings in Texas began.
Star Telegram reports that on May 2, 1996, a goat in Rio Grande Valley was found dead. It had three puncture wounds to its neck, leading to the “goat sucker” nickname. And thus, a vampiric urban legend was born.
A number of Texans have come forward with tales of alleged chupacabra sightings over the years. In 2004, a man from Bexar County said he had shot and killed a chupacabra on his property.
National Geographic alleges that in most cases, these sightings are related to coyotes.
What is a thylacine?
A thylacine is a now extinct animal previously found in Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. It was a marsupial, the family of mammals that includes koalas and wombats.
More closely resembling a dog or fox than a koala, the thylacine was colloquially known as a Tasmanian tiger or a Tasmanian wolf. It earned its nickname as a tiger thanks to the signature stripes found on the thylacine’s back.
The last known thylacine was captured in Australia in 1930. The species has since died out.
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All about that ‘chupacabra sighting’ in Amarillo
Back in May 2022, it was reported by the Star Telegram that a strange creature was sighted outside of Amarillo Zoo in Texas.
Texas has been a hotbed for alleged chupacabra sightings. The southern state even has the title of the “chupacabra factory,” per the Texas Observer.
Since the first rumors about the chupacabra rose to prominence in the mid-90s, there have been reports annually about the sighting of these folkloric creatures.
