While they may look like a tall fox or skinny wolf, they are neither.
Maned wolves are a species all their own belonging to the Chrysocyon genus and are the only observed
species of this genus.
In fact, their closest living relative is actually the bush dog - if you can believe
that.
Maned wolves are found in South America largely in Brazil though they do occur in Bolivia,
Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, and very rarely in Uruguay where they’ve been classified
as extinct in the past until individuals were observed there in more recent years.
Their main habitat is what is known as the cerrado which is South America’s largest
savannah region.
Here, tall grasses and low density forests reign supreme, acting as the perfect environment
for long-legged maned wolves to flourish.
Maned wolves can also be found in swampy regions and along forest and river edges as they have
had to adapt to new environments due to human encroachment in the cerrado.
Farming operations have severely cut into the cerrado’s range with only about 20%
of its original environment remaining intact.
As it stands, maned wolves are listed as near threatened, but their ability to adapt seems
to have kept their population from rapidly declining.
Maned wolves have long, thin legs that may aid them in seeing over tall grasses.
Typically at night or during twilight hours, they hunt by pounding one of their front feet
on the ground to scare out small creatures such as rodents, rabbits, and birds.
They will then pounce on these creatures and, hopefully, catch them in one quick movement.
However, this only accounts for about 50% of a maned wolf’s diet.
Maned wolves are actually omnivores meaning they eat both animal and plant material.
Fruits and seeds can also end up on the maned wolf’s menu though possibly their favorite
is a fruit so beloved by the maned wolf it has actually been named after them.
The wolf apple is a tomato-shaped fruit that maned wolves love to eat and it may actually
help them in fending off giant kidney worms - so that’s kind of a win/win for these
canids.
Being as big as they are, besides parasites like giant kidney worms, maned wolves really
only have to watch out for pumas, domestic dogs, and, of course, humans, as potential
predators.
Their appearance - with large pointed ears, a long, slender muzzle, and a red coat of
fur - likely contributes to their being called a “fox on stilts”, though they’re not
foxes at all.
Foxes have elliptical pupils (kind of like a cat’s) while a maned wolf’s pupils are
circular.
The “wolf” in their name may come from European settlers who considered the grey
canids back home when first observing maned wolves.
This could in part add to a negative stigma centered around maned wolves who in reality
are skittish, solitary creatures.
We talked about the negative associations with the name “wolf” in our grey wolf
episode if you’re interested in learning more.
You can find a link to that in the description.
When maned wolves are young they appear almost black, and as they develop they begin to show
off their red tones.
Their legs remain dark in color along with a strip of fur along the back of their neck
and shoulders.
From this “mane” of dark fur their name is derived.
Adults typically live in a permanent territory of about 10 square miles (26sqkm) that they
share as a mating pair.
In the wild they tend to stay separate for most of the year, coming together during the
mating season from April to June, though it has been noted that captive couples will spend
more time with one another grooming and even sleeping together.
The females are monoestrous meaning there is only one point during the year in which
they are able to become pregnant.
If a pair is successful, the female will give birth to a litter of 1-5 pups after about
65 days.
The pups will stay in their parent’s territory for about a year.
They will leave once they are full grown, which is a height of about 3.25 feet (1m)
at the shoulder and a weight of about 50 pounds (22.7kg).
It’s not known how long maned wolves live in the wild, but they can live up to fifteen
years in captivity.
Also, you should know that one of the ways maned wolves communicate is through a “roar-bark”
which sounds a little something like this.
I’m not sure if I would be terrified or in awe if I heard this in the wild.
Probably a little of both.
For more facts on maned wolves check out the links in the description.
Let us know what you think of these lanky canids in the comments.
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