Species of the Week #1

The Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)

Image result for maned wolf height — https://creatures-of-the-world.fandom.com/wiki/Maned_Wolf

Life Span: 6.5 years 12-15 years

Population Size: 17,000

Geographical Location: They are located in Central and Eastern South America. They can be found in the countries of Northern Argentina, South and Central Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Southern Peru. The habitat type that they inhabit includes wet and dry forests, grasslands, savannas, marshes, and wetlands (cerrado biome).

Diet: The Maned Wolf is an omnivore eating foods such as fruits, vegetables (especially the lobeira “fruit of the wolf”), small mammals, birds, and insects. They are solitary hunters and hunt their prey at night because they are nocturnal creatures.

Size: 3 feet tall, 4 feet long, 50 lbs

Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Predators: There are not many predators known to the Maned wolf but there are possibilities that Pumas and domestic dogs may attack them. Humans are the number one predator to the wolf due to the wolves killing of livestock.

Reproduction: They live in monogamous pairs and only breed once a year during the mating season which spans from November to June. The gestation period of a Maned Wolf is 65 days. They can produce from 1 to 5 pups per litter.

Communication: They scent mark using pungent urine and feces. They also communicate with each other by loud barks or roar barks.

Fun Facts:
Tallest wild Canid
Not actually a wolf or a fox (closest living relative is the Bush Dog
Part of the genus Chrysocyon meaning “golden dog”
Newborns have dark brown coats
Their black “manes” are used as a defense mechanism
There pee smells so bad that they are known as the “skunk wolf”
They rotate their ears to listen for prey then tap on the ground with their front feet to scare their prey out of their burrows and eventually pounce on them to capture them
They do not howl