Description

The Culpeo is the second largest canid of south América after the Maned Wolf. Ranging from 130 to 160 cm in lengh and weighing 6 to 13 kilos, it inhabits country and deciduous forests in the Land of fire, Patagonia and the Andes, and its distribution extends to Ecuador and Colombia.

It has thick and long fur with reddish highlights, and is characterized by its solitary behaviour, sharing its territory only with its female. It usually lives in open areas, high-rise grasslands, deserts and steppes, avoiding warm and humid climates.

The Culpeo's diet consists largely of rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, and to a lesser extent, plant material and carrion. The Culpeo does attack sheep on occasion, and has therefore often been persecuted by man, it has been dynig out in some regions because of its menace for the farmyard animals.