Though termed a wolf and closely resembling a large red fox, this animal is placed in a genus of its own.  The maned wolf is an unusual looking canid with golden-red fur, long black legs and huge ears. A dark mane on the back of the neck and top of the shoulders can be raised during stressful encounters and is the source of the common name, maned wolf.  It is the largest of all South American canids and is often described as a “fox on stilts.” Most prey is stalked and pounced on like a fox. Acute hearing and its long legs allow this animal to detect small mice and insects in the long grasses of its habitat.

True wolves, such as the Mexican and red wolves, are strict carnivores but the maned wolf is omnivorous.  This means that they eat a variety of foods including a fruit, the loberia, which is such a large part of the diet that it is called the “wolf fruit”. Insects, rodents, birds and bird eggs, grasses and small deer make up the rest of this unique wolfs diet.
Maned wolves do not howl but communicate with loud roaring barks. These barks are most commonly heard during the breeding season. Submissive whining and “puffing” noises to pups are other vocalizations.

Although considered endangered by the Argentine and Brazilian governments, little is known about the social life of wild maned wolves. Mostly solitary, males and females form mated pairs, sharing and defending a territory but rarely found together outside of the annual breeding season.  After a 63 day gestation the females gives birth to one to six pups in a shallow “den” in the grass. We have learned from animals in captivity that males play an important role in raising young along with the female. In the wild, the wolf is rarely seen with their pups. The pups are black at birth and turn red at about six months of age.

The main threats to the survival of maned wolves are disease, loss of habitat, (due to the rapid conversion of grasslands from traditional large cattle ranches to soybean or other agricultural production), and conflict with man. Their fondness for domestic chickens gets maned wolves into trouble with ranchers and poultry farmers. Hunting is considered a definite threat to their survival in the wild.   

Maned Wolf

Chrysocyon brachyurus

SSP