Reported encounter Tanquã, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
Piracicaba’s Mystery Animal: The 2016 Tanquã Photograph
An agronomist's 2016 photo of a lean, unidentified animal near Piracicaba revived talk of the chupa-cabra — and, quietly, the werewolf.
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At first, the agronomist thought it might be a deer or a dog. Then he considered a much less comfortable answer: a lion.
In June 2016, João Marcelo Elias and a companion photographed an unidentified animal in the Tanquã area of Piracicaba, São Paulo. It was distant, and the image left room for argument. Elias suspected a thin, possibly elderly lion. Local talk supplied other names: chupa-cabra, and lobisomem.
The contemporary Agência Estado report recorded those rumors alongside the more immediate question of what animal was out there. A later compilation of the coverage described camera traps and a zoo veterinarian’s inconclusive assessment. A possible lion remained a possibility, not an identification.
That distinction made the photograph more troubling than a clear picture of a familiar animal. If it was an escaped or abandoned predator, both it and the people around it might need help. If the apparent shape was misleading, a poor photograph had given an old neighborhood rumor something new to gather around.
The accounts disagree on the sighting’s weekday, and the available reports do not settle what the camera traps eventually found. June 2016 is the firmest event date. Tanquã’s animal never received a firm name in that reporting — only several competing ones.
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Original illustration of the article’s setting.
