Chupacabra. Chile

A MYSTERIOUS vampire beast has killed 50 livestock by "sucking their blood dry" leaving farmers terrified it could be the legendary chupacabra, reports claim.

Officials and vets in northern Chile are said to be baffled after dozens of baby llamas and alpacas were found with puncture wounds in the chest.

The injuries do not match those made by usual predators such as pumas and foxes which normally go for the neck, experts said.

Farmers claimed the creature only attacks at night and does not leave any footprints to help identify or track it, further adding to the local panic.

Some believe it could be the mythical chupacabra, which is said to suck the blood from goats, cows and horses.

Around 50 llama and alpaca corpses have been reported since November around the village of Colchane, near the border with Bolivia.

Colchane mayor Javier Garcia Choque was so worried he hired a vet to study the remains.

And Chile's national Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) has now started an investigation to help solve the riddle.

Andrea Nieto, the local veterinary surgeon called in to examine the corpses, could not determine what killed them, reports Infobae.

She said: "They are not the marks of predators from here such as the puma or the fox.

"Only two perforations are seen at the thorax and nothing else.

"Apparently from there the animal sucked, but a more exhaustive investigation is necessary."

Her report ruled out an attack by wild dogs, which rip their prey apart, and also ruled out the possibility of bats.

She said: "From the bite I can conclude that it is an animal with a small jaw, due to the size of its fangs, which are very advanced, unlike other predators that have them more to the sides."

The mayor said: "Given the concerns of neighbours we will deliver all the information to the SAG so that they can conclude what type of animal it is and how to contain it.

"If necessary, we will send reports to other entities to help us find this creature."

It doesn't eat its meat or entrails. I have never seen anything like this before.

Farmer Luis Choque

When the first animals were killed, some feared a twisted local man was doing it.

Farmer Juan Choque Choque said: “At first when two or three deaths appeared, we thought it was someone.

"But when more began to appear, we said no one could have such evil. And the deaths went on and on.

“My cousins told me it could be a creature called chupacabra which left a person badly injured in the south years back.

"It scared me and we put lights with solar panels to illuminate the pens and scare this animal away.

"I want them to find it so that it stops doing harm.”

Another farmer, Luis Choque, said foxes have multiplied in the area but the recent killings do not match attacks by the usual predators.

He said: “It makes a small hole, not on the neck, but on its side.

"It doesn't eat its meat or entrails. I have never seen anything like this before.

"It attacks at night and the animals don't appear to defend their young.”

The SAG confirmed it sent officials to examine the two most recent baby llamas killed last week looking for bite marks and footprints that could identify the predator.

"However, in both cases, the animals were removed from their place of attack, which made the investigative work of the service difficult," a spokesman told Cooperativa.

They have set up camera traps hoping to capture images of the killer.