They are called maned wolves, a species belonging to the dog family, and they are also the largest canid in South America. They have an appearance similar to that of a large fox with incredibly long legs.
With a coat of reddish-brown fur, large ears, and a fluffy tail reminiscent of a fox, they have slender legs like those of a deer and a face similar to that of a dog. Therefore, when people first see pictures of this canid, many might think it is a product of Photoshop.
Maned wolves are a species belonging to the dog family. They are the largest canids in South America.
They are known as maned wolves and are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “vulnerable to extinction.”
They are primarily found in the vast tropical savanna of the Cerrado in Brazil, the Pampas in Peru, Paraguay, and the shrub forests of northern Argentina.
They resemble a large fox with slightly reddish fur.
This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, particularly in grasslands with scattered shrubs and trees in southern, central-western, and southeastern Brazil (Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Goiás, São Paulo, Federal District, and recently Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay, northern Argentina, eastern Bolivia, and the northeastern part of Peru (Pampas del Heath).
According to the IUCN, the current population of maned wolves is estimated to be around 17,000 adults, with most (over 90%) found in Brazil. In the last decade, their primary habitat has been severely devastated. In addition to habitat loss, they face serious threats from road accidents, direct hunting by humans, and diseases contracted from livestock.
Despite being called a wolf, it is not actually a wolf.
In the local language, it is referred to as aguará guazú (meaning “big fox” in Guarani), Lobo de crin, Lobo de los esteros, or Lobo colorado, and as Lobo-guará in Brazil. It is also known as Borochi in Bolivia.
Although the maned wolf is called a “wolf,” it is not a true wolf; instead, it is the only member of the genus Chrysocyon (Greek for “golden dog”) within the dog family. Genetically, the maned wolf has 37 pairs of autosomes in its diploid genome, and its karyotype is similar to that of other canids. However, it has 76 chromosomes, making it unable to hybridize with other dog species, resulting in its unusually long legs relative to its body proportions, which are unique to the maned wolf.
The average height of maned wolves is about 1-1.25 meters, with a shoulder height ranging from 85 cm to 1.07 m and a weight of about 19-34 kg. They are also the largest native canids in South America and are known as the long-legged kings of the canine world.
Maned wolves are often described as a red fox on stilts due to their color and appearance, even though they are much larger than red foxes and belong to a different genus.
Maned wolves have many distinguishing features compared to other canids. For instance, dogs are typically polygamous, while maned wolves exhibit a loyal and monogamous mating system. Dogs can breed year-round, while maned wolves have a breeding season from November to April.
During the breeding season, these wolves emit special sounds. Dr. Adriana Consorte-McCrea, a researcher at Christ Church University in Canterbury, described this distinctive call as: “It sounds a bit like a dog coughing, with a very steady rhythm and continuous for a long duration.”
The gestation period for female maned wolves is 60 to 65 days (longer than that of dogs by about 5-10 days), and a litter can consist of 2 to 6 pups. Newborn maned wolves are born with black fur, which gradually turns reddish-yellow after ten weeks. Both parents will care for the pups together until they are one year old and can become independent (the lifespan of a maned wolf is 13-16 years).
Maned wolves are the largest wild dogs on our planet, and their long legs are likely an adaptation to the grasslands where they originally lived.
Maned wolves primarily feed on small to medium-sized prey, including small mammals (often rodents and wild rabbits), birds, and even fish.
However, perhaps the biggest difference between maned wolves and true wolves and dogs is that despite being carnivorous, they have a strong preference for fruits and vegetables. A significant portion of their diet (over 50%, according to some studies) consists of plant material, including sugarcane, tubers, and fruits. Notably, they frequently consume the fruit of a plant known as Solanum lycocarpum—this is a staple food for them when meat is scarce. Scientists speculate that this fruit contains certain nutrients they require, though no definitive conclusions have been reached yet.
Their fur is often marked with a tuft of white fur at the tip of the tail and a white “bib” under the throat.
Due to the distinct characteristics of maned wolves compared to true wolves and dogs, they are suspected to be relatives or direct descendants of an extinct dog species from the Pleistocene epoch.
