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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Dean Foy

Maned Wolf

Chrysocyon brachyurus

Physical Characteristics

  • These wolves have long golden-red fur, extremely long legs, large ears, a long face, a black, erect mane and black legs. They also have black on back of the head and top of   the shoulders.The throat and tail tuft may be white.
  • Size of average adult
    • height: 3 feet at the shoulder
    • weight: 50 pounds
  • Approximate life span is 10 years.

Diet

  • Wild: rodents, small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, fruit (particularly lobeira), and other vegetable matter

Behavior

  • Nocturnal and crepuscular (active at night, dawn and dusk) in the wild (at SCZ - active in the day)
  • Solitary most of the year, monogamous pair share territory but mainly interact during the breeding season
  • 3 vocalizations: bark, whine and growl
  • Reproduction:
    • sexual maturity: 6 months to 2 years
    • gestation: 62 - 66 days
    • litter size: 2 - 4
    • pups eyes open after 9 days, they begin to take regurgitated food from both male and female at 4 weeks, weaned at 15 weeks

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: grasslands, savannas, swampy areas
  • Distribution: northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia
  • Numbers: wild 2200 (1990), in SSP 85 in North America (1994)
  • Status: Endangered, CITES Appendix II
    • habitat destruction: burning of areas for agriculture
    • hunted for the belief that they kill domestic livestock
    • cystinuria disease: causes crystals to form in urinary tract sometimes causing fatal blockage (big problem in captivity, especially in males)
    • low captive birth rate and high pup mortality rate

Conservation Efforts

  • Public education to expand public pride for the maned wolf so better conservation programs may be developed

Research and Investigative Programs

  • Nutritional: prevention of formation of urinary tract crystals
  • Behavior: searching for causes for low captive birth rate and high pup mortality rate
  • Reproduction: hormones
  • At SCZ: Reproduction study (part of SSP Husbandry Manual - Reprod. section)

Suggested Readings

  • Wild Dogs, Jennifer Sheldon
  • The Carnivores, R. F. Ever
  • Volume 19, International Zoo Yearbook

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