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“Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a true wolf and is the only species in its genus.”
The maned wolf is a tall, long-legged South American canid of open savannas. This omnivore eats fruit and small prey, raises pups in dens, and is listed as Near Threatened.
Chrysocyon brachyurusCarnivoraCanidae
Browse photographs of maned wolf across habitat, behavior, anatomy, and life stages.
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Core article
A closer look at habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and conservation.
Tall, slim, and colored like sunset grass, the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is South America’s largest wild dog. This long-legged omnivore from the Canidae family strides through cerrado savanna and open grassland looking for fruit, rodents, and birds. Despite the name, it is neither a gray wolf nor a true fox — it is the only living species in its genus.
The maned wolf belongs to the order Carnivora and family Canidae. Its scientific name is Chrysocyon brachyurus, roughly “short-tailed golden dog.” Genetic studies place it among the South American canids, related more closely to other New World dogs than to the gray wolf lineage of Canis.
It evolved in open Neotropical landscapes where tall grass favors animals that can see and walk above dense cover. The stilt-like legs and solitary foraging lifestyle set it apart from pack-hunting wolves and small, dens-focused foxes such as the coyote’s northern relatives.
Adults typically measure 3.5 to 4.5 feet (1.1 to 1.4 m) in body length, with a bushy black-tipped tail adding around 1 to 1.5 feet. Shoulder height often reaches 34 to 42 inches (86 to 107 cm) — taller than many people expect — while weight usually sits between 44 and 66 pounds (20 to 30 kg).
The coat is golden-red to cinnamon, with black legs, a white throat patch, and a dark mane along the neck and shoulders that rises when the animal is alarmed. Oversized ears swivel to catch rustles of rodents in grass. Large feet and long limbs spread weight and raise the head above tall vegetation, the key “red fox on stilts” silhouette.
Maned wolves live mainly in Brazil’s cerrado — a mosaic of savanna, scrub, and grassland — and in similar open habitats of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and (rarely) Uruguay. They avoid dense rainforest and high mountains, preferring landscapes where fruiting shrubs and small prey are scattered across wide territories.
A single pair may share a home range of many square miles. Dens are dug or taken over in thickets, termite mounds, or abandoned burrows. Expanding farms, roads, and planted pastures have broken much of the historic cerrado, pushing maned wolves into smaller fragments.
Although classified in Carnivora, the maned wolf is a true omnivore. Fruit can provide half or more of calories in some seasons, especially the tomato-like wolf’s fruit (Solanum lycocarpum, lobeira). The rest of the menu includes rodents, birds, insects, reptiles, eggs, and occasional armadillos or similar small mammals.
Foraging is mostly solitary and often nocturnal or crepuscular. The animal listens, pounces, and also plucks fruit from low plants. This mixed diet lets it survive dry seasons when animal prey is harder to find — a strategy very different from pack-hunting gray wolves.
Maned wolves usually travel alone. Mated pairs may occupy the same large territory and meet to breed and raise young, yet they rarely form packs. Territory is marked with feces and strongly scented urine sometimes compared to a skunk’s odor — a chemical billboard for neighbors.
Communication includes a loud roar-bark that carries across open country, soft whines between pair members, and the raised-mane threat display. Compared with more social canids, day-to-day life is quiet and spaced out: each adult covers distance searching for scattered fruit and prey.
Breeding typically peaks in the cooler season. After gestation of about 60 to 65 days, the female births a litter of roughly 2 to 4 pups in a sheltered den. Pups are born dark and helpless; eyes open within a couple of weeks.
Both parents bring food. By one to two months, pups explore near the den and gradually shift from milk to regurgitated meals and solid items. Young may stay near the natal range for months before dispersing. Wild lifespan often reaches 10 to 12 years when disease and traffic are avoided.
(Population and conservation trend data sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)
The maned wolf is classified as Near Threatened, with an overall decreasing population trend. Conversion of cerrado to cropland, cattle pasture, and roads shrinks and splits habitat. Vehicle collisions kill many dispersing animals. Domestic dogs spread disease such as canine distemper and parvovirus, and hunting or persecution still occurs locally.
Conservation work focuses on protecting cerrado reserves, creating wildlife crossings, reducing conflict with people, and managing disease risk from free-roaming dogs. Captive breeding and public education also help keep the species visible as an emblem of South American grasslands.
Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a true wolf and is the only species in its genus.
People often describe it as a red fox on stilts because of its long legs.
Fruit can make up a large part of its diet, especially wolf’s fruit (lobeira).
Its urine has a strong skunk-like smell used to mark territory.
When threatened, it raises a dark mane of fur along its neck and shoulders.
Maned wolves usually hunt alone even when a mated pair shares a territory.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
A maned wolf is a large South American member of the dog family (*Canidae*). It looks a little like a red fox on long legs, but it is neither a fox nor a gray wolf.
Maned wolves live in open savanna, cerrado, and grassland habitats mainly in Brazil, with smaller populations in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay.
They are omnivores. Meals often mix fruit (especially wolf’s fruit), rodents, birds, insects, and other small animals.
No. It belongs to the same family as wolves and coyotes, but it is the only species in the genus *Chrysocyon* and is not a close living relative of gray wolves.
Long legs help it see over and walk through tall grass while searching for fruit and small prey in open landscapes.
A baby maned wolf is called a pup. Pups are born dark-furred in dens and are cared for by both parents.
Maned wolves are listed as Near Threatened. Habitat loss, roads, and disease from domestic dogs are major threats across the cerrado.
Usually not. Adults often forage alone. A mated pair may share a large territory and raise pups together without forming a wolf-like pack.
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