This means that, in the not-too-distant future, the maned wolf might well become vulnerable-or worse. Accordingly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) regards this species as a near-threatened one. As grasslands and forests regularly become farmlands and villages, maned wolves are caught in the middle. But the biggest threat to the animals is habitat loss. Additionally, maned wolves are susceptible to diseases spread by domestic dogs, many of whom act aggressively towards their distant cousins. Widely suspected of being serial chicken-killers, the animals have long been hunted down and killed by chicken farmers throughout South America. Most of these inhabit Brazil, where the local maned wolf population has declined by roughly 20 percent over the past 15 years. Only around 17,000 mature adults are thought to be left in the wild. The future of these wonderful, stilt-legged canids is very much in doubt. Reptiles, birds, insects, and eggs are also consumed when the opportunity presents itself. They’re very adept at hunting down smaller mammals, with armadillos and rodents being common prey items. And thus, the whole mutually-beneficial cycle repeats itself.Īt this point, we should note that maned wolves are still carnivores. In the process, they cast any seeds they might find into the colony’s garbage piles, where the seeds can easily take hold and grow into fruit-bearing plants. The insects then use this fecal matter to fertilize their in-house fungus gardens. Furthermore, the creatures have a helpful habit of defecating directly onto leaf cutter ant nests. Loberia seeds tend to germinate more efficiently after passing through a maned wolf’s digestive tract. Also called the loberia fruit, it’s thought to help the animals ward off parasitic kidney worms. The canids will often eat roots and bulbs, but they have a special taste for a tomato-like fruit known as the wolf apple (the fruit's name is derived from the maned wolf’s enthusiasm for it). Fecal samples indicate that, in the wild, fruit and vegetable matter accounts for a third to one-half of a maned wolf’s diet.
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