Two men in Texas believe they may have discovered the body of a semi-mythical beast rumoured to suck all the blood out of its prey.
Lynn Butler, a taxidermist, says he found the chupacabra in a chicken barn three months ago, after an unseen predator was heard running amock.
It has a hairless, leathery body and pointed muzzle and some animal experts, who have inspected the corpse, say it may be a chupacabra, a predator first sighted in Puerto Rico in 1995.
Descriptions of chupacabras differ wildly - they have been likened to rodents, lizards and even small bears - but they all tend to be distinguished by prominent fangs visible on Mr Butler's specimen.
The name translates from the Spanish as "goat sucker" because of reports that the beasts puncture the skins of livestock with their teeth, draining them of blood.
Suspected sightings have been reported across the Americas and even as far away as Russia, but scientists dismiss the animals as modern legends.
Jerry Ayer, a friend of Mr Butler and a fellow taxidermist, plans to have it properly stuffed and mounted for public display.
"To be honest, I don't know what it is. I'd probably say it's a freak-of-nature coyote, or a hybrid breed with a genetic mutation," he told the Los Angeles Times.
"Very odd-looking," he added. "The hairlessness is sinister because you can see the bones protruding at the hips.
"People say there's a mythical beast and I have one. I'll call it chupacabra because people love it, but I don't know what it is."
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