- The curse of the Chupacabras weighs heavily on Isidoro
Lizana, who is looking at a fine of between 150 to 300 Chilean Pesos for
having mistaken a guiña, a protected variety of wildcat, with the
legendary monster. Lizana beat it to death after the animal killed 23 hens.
-
 Lizana, who looks after the farm birds
in Fra Fra Errázuriz, Las Ramaditas, located between Marchigue and
Pichilemu in the 6th Region, was accused of poaching by the Agriculture
and Livestock Service in Santa Cruz after slaying one of the scarecest
wild cats on the planet, found only in Chile and on the other side of the
Andean Range.
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- Lizana appeared in court last Monday and placed the blame
squarely on four large dogs kept on his premises, who trapped the guiña.
However, after a detailed study of the carcass, wildlife inspectors ascertained
that the animal had also been beaten to death.
-
- Patricio Estrada, SAG's Regional Director, shall determine
in coming days if Lizana acted with malice aforethought, premeditation
and planning in this animal crime. Luis Brito, director of the Museum of
Natural Sciences and Archaeology in San Antonio, denounced the episode
as a breach of the Hunting Code, adding that the guiña is a cat
that has four to five young per year, lives between 10-15 years and is
also one of the most efficient controlers of long tailed mice and other
carriers of the Hanta virus. The guiña's habitat ranges from Coquimbo
to Aysén, has been protected since 1975, and the national scientific
community knows very little about its habits, partly due to indiscriminate
hunting and the fact that it cannot reproduce in captivity.
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- Translation (C) 2004. Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic
Ufology. Special thanks to Liliana Núñez O.
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