News from Belize
San Pedro Sun exclusive report -
Last Saturday, June 22, the editors of The San Pedro Sun were waved down by workers at Banyan Bay Villas. Mito Paz excitedly explained that the workers wanted to know if the newspaper was aware of the "Chupa Cabras" on the island. Not knowing about the dreaded beasts, the editors admitted they knew nothing. It was explained that the chupa cabra, was perhaps an evil outer-space creature that is killing horses, cows, sheep and dogs in Mexico and now it has crossed the border into Belize and killed three "sheep" right here in San Pedro. The excited men said they had seen programs on Mexican T.V. and it was true, and asked us to come and see the dead "sheep". We proceeded to the pen where the sheep and goats are kept, and lying on the ground outside the pen was a dead sheep. Due to the heat the sheep was beginning to bloat and no wounds were visible.
It was indeed puzzling. We talked about the deaths of the sheep and wondered if vampire bats were involved. After talking to several people about the chupa cabra we realized that we were probably among the few who hadn't heard of them. Many people in San Pedro had seen news reports on TV Azteca (a Mexican television channel) and were quite informed. So we watchedTV Azteca and lo and behold, people in Veracruz, Mexico were marching with signs in front of government offices asking officials to take action against the beasts. The commentator said that reports of these "animals" were wide spread in Mexico, Guatemala and Puerto Rico.
Monday morning we called the Ministry of Agriculture in Belmopan attempting to get information and to find out if other incidents of live stock mysteriously dying at night had been reported. The person who answered the telephone laughed with amusement when the situation was explained and referred the call to a higher authority. After several more calls, and retelling the story, officials said that this was the first information they had received about livestock deaths in San Pedro, and that they had no information on chupa cabras. The conversation closed with the spokesperson very politely saying that perhaps people in San Pedro watched too much Mexican TV.
Monday afternoon Mito Paz called. He said there were eyewitnesses who saw the chupa cabra before it allegedly attacked the sheep Friday night. In fact, he said that one of the witnesses, Tyrel Haylock, 9 years old had drawn a picture of the creature (see rendering on page 1). We arranged a time for an interview of the eyewitnesses. Tuesday, June 25 we met the eyewitnesses after school. Tyrel Haylock, Annette Cantun, both age 9 and her brother Umberto, age 6, said that on Friday night they were downstairs outside the Cantun's house talking. Tyrel saw the creature about 150 feet away, on the ground beside a coconut tree. He pointed to the tree and showed where the three of them were standing. The chupa cabra then came toward the house where the feed for the sheep was stored. It was almost as big as the goats.( A discussion between the children determined that it was not as big as the sheep but as big as the goat). Tyrel demonstrated how the chupa cabra looked - he said it was crouched down, like it was squatting. His big wings were on his back; he had small arms, a tail, and sort of jumped and made a strange small sound. Annette showed us with her hands how tall it was and she indicated it was about as tall as her brother Umberto.
After the creature came toward the house they ran to get their father. He came out with a light and a machete and went to look for it by the pen, which is about 100 feet from the house. The children waited in the dark. Annette said she was afraid to go inside because her father had the light. She said she was crying. The father did not see the creature and to date it has not been back. Meanwhile...
The World Wide Web on the Internet was checked out by the San Pedro Sun for information regarding the Chupa Cabra. There were over 500 entries! - and the chupa cabra has its own home page on the WEB. The home page is filled with articles about the creature and some illustrations (but no photos). There are reports from Florida, Mexico and Puerto Rico. There are many articles about what the Puerto Rican government has done, profiles on chupa cabra hunters, even chupa cabra tracks for sale. The home page is soliciting articles about the chupa cabra. The San Pedro Sun will send San Pedro's version for inclusion in the growing Chupa Cabra web page (which won a Point Top 5% of Web Sites Award).
[Back]