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In an small city in middle-east somewhere near a desert, an unknown predator attacks sheeps, goats and chickens. These attacks began a few weeks ago and until now more than 150 sheeps have been attacked. It causes panic and rumors among people and despite official investigations no result has been achieved yet.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Biology.SE. Is there a freely available report for these official investigations? $\endgroup$
    – Remi.b
    Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 14:34
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    $\begingroup$ Where in Middle-East do you live? There are different biogeographical regions in the Middle-East. $\endgroup$
    – WYSIWYG
    Commented Aug 4, 2016 at 18:56
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    $\begingroup$ I remember a show in which (maybe) this case had been investigated (near Mexico probably) and one scientist there showed a dead chupacabra (or what its called) stored in a glass container! $\endgroup$
    – another 'Homo sapien'
    Commented Feb 25, 2017 at 8:08
  • $\begingroup$ Any predator that cannot eat the entire animal at once. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Apr 27, 2017 at 1:32
  • $\begingroup$ Scavenger birds also leave carcasses like that since they can't break up the bones and only eat the soft tissue. This produces a hollowed out carcass like that. Although birds will usually eat the tongue and eyes as well. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Apr 27, 2017 at 1:36

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In the pictures shown above only the soft part of the animals have been eaten. This is common for most predators as these are the easiest parts to eat.

Correct me if I am wrong but the animals seem to not have severe bite marks around the neck. This means the predator was not big. You can pretty much rule out anything around the same size or bigger than the sheep.

To exactly identify what killed them just from a carcass is hard, and even harder over the internet. However, it looks like you are dealing with feral dogs, coyotes or wolves, although with wolves and dogs there would generally be more scarring around the neck of the sheep.

Dogs: I have seen this behavior in dogs. These are normal tame dogs that have discovered the kick of hunting. Where I come form in South Africa the farmers tend to shoot dog packs if they see them on their land. This is because it is a common problem for the packs to attack chickens, sheep or even calves. They get an immense kick from hunting the sheep but in most cases don't eat it, not like the photos shown at least.

Foxes: Although it may be hard to believe foxes have also been known to kill sheep. However, in your case it is not likely to be foxes. Foxes hunt alone and tend to kill lambs.

Coyotes: Coyote packs have almost identical behavior to dog packs. The difference being that they pick one sheep and kill it quickly. They do not do it 'for the kick' like dogs and rather for the food. Judging from the photos I would say it is possible that this was done by wild Coyotes, if they are found in your area. Coyotes are also not very shy, and will often hunt close to where people live.

Wolves: While possible, I would rule out wolves because of your geographical location. Wolves also tend to be more shy and will stay away from places with lots of people, like a city.

Source: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/sheep/facts/02-029.htm

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    $\begingroup$ Please provide some sources to back up your answer. $\endgroup$
    – theforestecologist ♦
    Commented Feb 24, 2017 at 20:58
  • $\begingroup$ There is a famous fossil find of a pile of oreodont carcasses in which all but one is missing everything below the waist. the assumption is a predator ate the best parts then either left the rest behind or shoved the rest in a meat locker to eat later. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Apr 27, 2017 at 1:35

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