Status: Explained (mostly) — animals found in Texas and elsewhere were identified by DNA testing as coyotes (or coyote hybrids) with mange.
About the pin: Island-wide; the pin is near the middle of Puerto Rico.
The chupacabra, Spanish for “goat-sucker,” is a legendary creature said to kill livestock and drain their blood. The first widely publicised reports came from Puerto Rico in 1995. In March of that year, eight sheep were reportedly found dead, each with three puncture wounds and supposedly drained of blood, and the name was credited to the comedian Silverio Pérez, who used it on his radio show.
In August 1995 a resident, Madelyne Tolentino, reported seeing the creature, and she described it as a reptilian figure with spines down its back. Over 200 reports were logged in Puerto Rico that year. Later reports spread to Mexico, the southwestern United States and beyond, and descriptions changed to a hairless, dog-like animal with fangs.
Where bodies have been tested, the animals turned out to be ordinary: a creature killed near San Antonio, Texas, called the Elmendorf Beast, was identified by the University of California, Davis as a coyote with sarcoptic mange. The Puerto Rican descriptions remain anecdotal and unsupported by physical evidence.
Sources: Wikipedia: Chupacabra
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