Chupacabra

Endemic to Puerto Rico, the Chupacabra (Capraphagus saltopus) is a species of aberrant Glossid, distantly related to Zetheilians and Tongue-Stranglers. It is unique for its hopping method of locomotion and its strictly hematophagous diet.

Biology

Chupacabras are unique among the Glossid family, they have a semi-erect posture similar and kangaroo-like legs that force them to move by hopping.

Natural History

The ancestors of the Chupacabra arrived in the Caribbean from North America during the Miocene around 20 million years ago. Fossil evidence is scant but it appears that many species of Glossid had evolved throughout the islands ranging from large macropredators to browsing herbivores. But sometime in the late Pliocene all these species had gone extinct leaving only the Chupacabra left, isolated on Puerto Rico, where it managed to scrape out a living.

Ecology

The Chupacabra is a strictly hematophagus predator, it naturally fed on the Giant Rodents and Ground Sloths that once called Puerto Rico home, but in the modern day they have adapted to feeding on livestock, especially goats or chickens.

Unusually for a hematophage, the Chupacabra will often drain its victim of blood completely, living a dry corpse behind.

Conservation

Chupacabra populations are critically low, it is estimated that only a hundred or so are left in the wild. Conservation efforts of the species are frequently hindered by farmers who are worried about their livestock being predated on.