Above: Keepers have short training sessions with the maned wolves each day. Here, each wolf is asked to touch a colored target with her nose. This baseline behavior training can minimize stress for the animals during routine care, since they can be weighed and monitored easily. Training is also enrichment for the animals—and interesting for visitors!
WHO ARE YOU? Its blazing fur, solitary lifestyle, and omnivorous diet thrust the maned wolf into a genus all its own: Chrysocyon. Native to Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru, the maned wolf inhabits grasslands and scrub forests. It is thought that its exceedingly long legs allow the animal to see above the tall grass while hunting and running. Unlike true wolf species, maned wolves tend toward a solitary lifestyle but do form monogamous pair bonds. Though a pair shares a large, permanent home range of up to 17 square miles, each member hunts independently and only comes together for breeding. However, male maned wolves in zoos provide regurgitated food for the young, which indicates that they may stick around to help raise their offspring in the wild as well. Yet another quirk of the maned wolf lifestyle is its diet. Although classified as a carnivore, it is really an omnivore. During the rainy season, it eats mainly lobeira, a tomato-like fruit from a low, spiny bush—in fact, the fruit is also called the “wolf apple” for this reason. Studies of maned wolf feces have indicated that just over three-quarters of its diet is made up of fruit and vegetable matter. The other portion consists of small mammals, reptiles, birds and their eggs, and insects. With so much of its diet being vegetarian, a special prepared diet was created for these animals in zoos—it contains less animal-based protein (and reduced sodium) and more plantbased protein. This helps control cystinuria in this species, a condition in which an amino acid called cystine forms stones in the kidneys or bladder. Rather than chasing down prey, maned wolves tend to stalk and pounce, their large, erect ears ever alert to the telltale sounds of their next meal. They are most active during dusk and dawn hours, spending daylight and nighttime hours dozing under the cover of thick brush.
HEAR THAT? Maned wolves have a somewhat abbreviated vocal repertoire compared to other wild dogs. They don’t howl or bay, but they do use three other sounds: a deep-throated single bark, usually heard at dusk; a high-pitched whine, sometimes used in greeting; and a growl during antagonistic behavior. Most of their communication is done through olfactory means. Their pungent urine serves as a "keep out" signpost. Other maned wolves can smell it a mile away and discern a great deal from an individual’s
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ZOONOOZ
SEPTEMBER 2013