Our involvement with the so-called Chupacabra went back to 2006 at a corn roast in southern N.Y Where I first heard about a weird creature captured in the local area and the story then told by host’s son. This lead to interviewing the kids who captured, purchasing a set of the juvenile bones, more investigation in other sightings and encounters throughout the US.  Then in 2009 owning the first whole body taxidermy specimen called the Blanco Texas Chupacabra.

The Chupacabra is a queer-looking hairless dog-like critter was roaming the backyards of America but as time went on and data collected, this was to become less of a mystery, at least at the Lost World Museum.

One of the main characteristics of a “Chupacabra” is its hairless condition, wrinkled grey skin.
 I recently came across a few pieces of the puzzle about the hair-loss and I’ll try to shed some light on what the cause might be. As of this writing, scientists seem to attribute the bald appearance to a condition known as mange.

The few scientists who weighed in on the issue, believe the creatures look and skin condition is strictly due to mange.  Their “It’s mange” conclusion has limited their ability to solve this mystery and here’s why.

Every non-science person I’ve personally interviewed, 8 in all, told me they know the animals indigenous to their area and they know what mange looks like and ALL have emphatically stated to me “This is not mange!” I believe them.  So you have professionals on one said saying “Mange” and locals who say “No mange”  What does all mean?

After 4 years of puzzlement, in the summer of 2010,  we received more pieces to the cryptozoological puzzle. The focus was on the particular style of hair-loss that the local folks anecdotal opinions now were making more sense (Not Mange).

Side Note: Something you may not know is that a half a dozen scientist’s over the last 4 years have explained away any mystery to this mammal by attributing this unique hair-loss as, “Oh, it’s mange.” These statements are in response from their personal observation of photos or a film we provided. That’s it.  There were no animals to examine. No real evidence. No laboratory testing, just images. Recently a few carcasses did make it into the labs and have been tested. (3 deceased “Chupas”). Testing was conducted and  tests came back…are you ready?  Of the 3 Chupas “Mange” was the condition of 2X’s and “Not Mange” – 1X.  Is this conclusive enough? How do we reconcile the testimonies of the locals and their “Street Smart” knowledge that it isn’t mange?

The problem was scientists had a mild interest and the least amount of evidence to work from. The;r opinion was without real hard evidence to examine. The locals swear it’s not mange and I sided with the locals and here’s why.

Since Jan. 2010 there has been other different species of animals with a similar skin and hairless condition. Including a Chula-Fox and Chupa-Coon (bald raccoon).  Then we discovered a Chupa-Bear at a German Zoo.  As the video here shows, a bald (Chupa) bear. All these none dog-like mammals exhibited the same condition as our gray hairless chicken eating canines dis. As you watch the video you can see the grey color and folded skin on the back of the neck similar to our Blanco Texas Chupacabra.

The german zoo does not know what type of disease is causing this disorder. They are eager to find out. If it was mange there is a simple easy test to determine it.

So at this point, my thought was that the “Chupacabras” in the U.S. are a coyote or some type of canine mammal that has a, yet to be determined, known or unknown disease. But it is not mange. This sickness, whatever it is, colors the skin grey and the hair-loss is mostly complete with some hair remaining on the face and tail. It affects our dogs/foxes/coyote which we are now affectionately calling Chupacabra.

Leading  researchers at U.C. Davis conducted an extensive genetic testing of 3-4 “Chupa” specimens including the Blanco Texas Chupa and we will be sharing their conclusions as they ready to publish their results in some type of esoteric scientific technical journal in about a year.

UPDATE: 11/17/2017 – Mystery solved…  U.C. Davis shared with us their genetic test results. And concluded the Blanco Texas Chupa was a mix of Mexican wolf and coyote.

Museum’s Conclusion: Based on U.C. Davis’s analysis, and the mentioned other animal types of “Chupas”, the “Chupacabra” is not a mysterious yet to be discovered new species of mammal as some have suggested. It’s a diseased mammal.

Mange or not mange: Regarding its blue/gray bald skin… apparently it’s NOT mange… It’s mange-like. Locals who know mange and seen these critters in the wild, denied over and over that it was not mange and even the scientists are 50/50 on whether it’s really mange. So it’s Mange-like, but not the typical mange the local people see in diseased animals in the wilderness normally. They know and the know what they know.

To conclude, Chupacabra’s are not the devil, it’s a predatory mammal…with a mange-like disease.  We at the museum are satisfied,  based on the best evidence thus far, the eye-witness reports, YouTube videos and other animal species mentioned above affected by this same skin condition. Along with the  scientific analysis, this mystery is solved. There is no such thing as a Chupacabra. We are going to move on as sensational as this has and will continue to be.