Beast of Bolivia Track

Posted by: Loren Coleman on December 16th, 2007

What is it? Felid? Canid? Unknown? Identify the mystery imprint.

The first image shown is the track of the so-called “Beast of Bolivia.”

The following ones are various felid, canid, and other track images shown for comparison.

What do you think the animal is that made the first track?

bolivia track

The Beast of Bolivia imprint compared to a human hand.

dog track1

Dog track.

puma track1

Puma or mountain lion track.

cat tracks

Comparison of felid tracks.

dog vs cat

Canid vs felid tracks.

more tracks

Felid vs canid tracks.

bear tracks

Bear tracks.

coyote tracks1

Coyote tracks.

coyote

Coyote tracks.

raccoon track

Raccoon track.

otter tracks

Otter tracks.

Thanks to “Mnynames” for pointing out where to find the first image.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


25 Responses to “Beast of Bolivia Track”

  1. DavidFredSneakers responds:

    The apparent claws and general symetry of the track would definetly suggest a canid.

  2. fizzyb responds:

    Definitely coyote. I have no doubts now.

  3. Ceroill responds:

    Interesting.

  4. TheHunter responds:

    It is definitely canid. I am inclined to agree, a big coyote or coy-dog. The triangle at the back of the print defines it as canid.

  5. squatch-toba responds:

    Sure looks like a coyote, too small for a wolf. Very helpful update…thanks.

  6. mystery_man responds:

    Wow, after seeing that track, I am more convinced now than ever that we are dealing with coyotes or a feral dog. That sure looks like a canid track to me.

  7. Alligator responds:

    Agreed. It sure looks like the hind foot of a coyote. Possibly a coy-dog or maybe just a feral dog. Coyotes in the east get much larger than they do in the Plains and Desert Southwest – food is a lot more abundant for them.

  8. swnoel responds:

    I appears to be too large for a coyote… my guess domestic dog

  9. jodzilla responds:

    It looks like a cougar/wolf hybrid… Kidding. Honestly, it’s not a very clear print. I can’t even see pads. It could be almost anything.

  10. dogu4 responds:

    The toes look kinda small and the pad looks kinda long. Could it be a big mustelid? Wolverines, for instance. I suppose a trackway would go some distance towards identifiying the imprint.

  11. mystery_man responds:

    The track is not too large for a coyote and is actually well within the size range for a coyote track. Coyotes typically leave tracks that are between 2.5 and 3.5 inches long, which makes these perfectly reasonable for a coyote. Wolf tracks on the other hand, are usually over 4 inches long. The evidence points to these being of a coyote or feral dog. Also, feral dogs would likely leave behind tracks of varying sizes whereas coyote tracks would be mostly uniform in size, so I’m wondering if there were other tracks in the area.

    I sure would like to know more about the condition of the slain dog’s body. If this was the work of wolves or a cougar, we could expect to see a pretty clear attack pattern indicative of their species. In contrast, feral dogs will attack indiscriminately, nipping and biting everywhere. If the body was randomly bitten all over and shredded up, that to me would point towards feral dogs.

    Another thing that might be of importance is the droppings found in the area. If coyotes did this, the droppings would be of basically uniform size and shape, whereas a group of feral dogs would probably leave behind dropping of different sizes.

    I am thinking that with what we have to go on, feral dogs are a very good candidate as the culprit. They are widespread, bold, and can be highly aggressive, and display little to no fear of humans. This makes them quite dangerous, and feral dogs would have no reservations about raiding areas where humans live or attacking other dogs. I suppose the same thing could mostly be said for coyotes too. Since feral dogs tend to have favored dens and rendezvous points, very much like wolves, that could explain why there have been other attacks in the area. If there is such a rendezvous point or den in the area, I’m afraid we can expect to see more attacks like this in the future.

    Feral dogs or coyotes are the two most likely culprits, in my opinion.

  12. darkshines responds:

    Otter.

    No really, it looks most like a coyote track, long and pointed. Its not spread like a dog or cat, or rounded like a bear.

  13. sschaper responds:

    My first thought upon seeing the pic, was fox. Though that would be a gigantic fox. I’d be curious to see a wolverine’s track shown, too.

    Coydog?

  14. red_pill_junkie responds:

    … a wolverine? or a badger?

  15. DARHOP responds:

    It’s a whatzit track most definately!

  16. zytebac responds:

    It is too small to be wolf. And definately a rear paw print. Either Coyote, feral dog or coyote-dog hybrid.

  17. Richard888 responds:

    If the print was made on mud, clay or snow then the animal would be one of two types: 1) certain known; 2) certain unknown. Since the print has been made on ground that does not preserve detail, the animal is “certain unidentifiable” since it can be one of many Canid types.

  18. Leibolmai responds:

    Actually I disagree with the coyote assumption based on the track size. I think the track is larger then people are realizing. Assuming the man in the picture is of average size (let’s say 50th percentile male from the 1988 army survey) his hand breadth is about 3.56 inches taken from that survey. Taking that assumption, the track is at least 4.30 inches long when you do the math/geometry on the photo. Most wolf tracks are between 4.25 and 4.75 inches long. This easily could be a wolf. It’s a very large canine at the very least.

    Cheers

  19. kittenz responds:

    Not cat. Canid – dog, coyote, or coydog.

  20. kittenz responds:

    Some coyotes here in the East are pretty big animals. I have seen coyotes that were as big as a good-sized Dobie or German Shepherd.

    A gray wolf track is much bigger, for the size of the individual animal, than a dog’s or coyote’s track would be, and that track just is not proportioned like a gray wolf’s track. I think that red wolves are rare enough to be eliminated from consideration.

    My first impression was coyote, or maybe coydog, but the more likely animal would be just plain dog.

  21. mystery_man responds:

    Leibolmai- But the original report said the tracks were 3 inches long.

  22. Blue Mako responds:

    Looks almost exactly like the coyote tracks pictured lower in the article, so I’m going with that…

  23. CryptoGoji responds:

    Canid of some kind, most likely a stray dog since they are all around it could almost be anything.

  24. FodderButWiser responds:

    Honestly? Given the poor quality, erosion, etc. could be a medium sized canid, or a small primate’s hand (flat, but fingers closed). A single track is hard to read. A series speaks volumes.

  25. BabyGirl4597 responds:

    I Think its a BOBCAT…im pretty sure that im correct…from an 11 year old….

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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