ABSTRACT
The Genus Chrysocyon comprises a sole species, Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger, 1811). It is the largest canid of South America, and is well adapted to meadows and savanna habitats. It has long legs, a long head and muzzle, and large ears. Its geographic range includes grasslands of central Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, north Argentina and Uruguay (Cabrera and Yepes, 1960; Langguth, 1975). The maned wolf ranges long distances searching for food, scent-marking with urine and scats, even outside the reproductive season (Dietz, 1984). As a typical omnivore, the maned wolf’s diet is typical and diverse, including rodents, arthropods, reptiles, birds, fruits, and armadillos (Carvalho, 1976; Dietz, 1984; Jácomo, 1995). The diet of canids can vary seasonally throughout the year and vegetable matter is very important for some species (including the maned wolf, indicating that this species is a trophic generalist; see Dietz, 1984; Jácomo, 1995) at certain times (Nowak, 1991). Within this context, it would be interesting to analyze the maned wolf’s diet and its seasonal variation in different places to compare the results and identify possible variation among different regions. These possible differences can be fundamental for the maintenance of this mammal species, which is endangered in Brazil (Coimbra Filho, 1968).
