Diet of the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) and its role in seed dispersal on a cattle ranch in Brazil

Abstract

The maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus is the largest canid inhabiting South America. Its geographic distribution includes the open fields of Brazil's central area, which is currently undergoing agricultural expansion. The diet of the maned wolf and its seasonal variation was determined on a dairy cattle ranch (São Luís farm, 566 ha) in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. From January to December faeces of the maned wolf were collected monthly (n = 150 scats; 397 food item occurrences). Twenty-nine taxa were identified from scats, 18 of animal origin (46% or 183 occurrences) and 11 of plants (54% or 214 occurrences). The fruits of Solanum lycocarpum were the dominant food item in our study (29%). Mammals contributed 13%, arthropods 12%, birds 11% and reptiles 2% of the food items. Arthropods and fruits were prevalent in the rainy season and mammals in the dry season. As expected for a heavily farmed region, frugivory results were at the lower end of the diversity scale (9-33 species) and included four old garden species. No previous study of the diet of maned wolf has registered as many species of Solanaceae as this one. Although dietary richness was lower, the main food items (wolf fruit, armadillos, rodents, birds) were the same as study sites in 'cerrado' and upland meadows. In this region, the open habitats occupied by the maned wolf were previously covered by Atlantic forest, suggesting that landscape modification such as cattle ranching has opened new frontiers for distribution expansion of the maned wolf. The impact of loss of dietary richness and the increase in Solanaceae on the survival of the maned wolf need to be evaluated.

Gastrointestinal parasites of maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger 1815) in a suburban area in southeastern Brazil

“…Similarly, both richness and composition of species found in this study do not differ much from these studies (see Table 2). It seems, therefore, that C. brachyurus is not being affected by a different parasite set from those already identified in studies carried out in less disturbed areas, reinforcing the high plasticity of the species and its parasites to human impacts (Santos et al, 2003;Massara et al, 2012). Other explanation lies in the fact that both protected and unprotected areas in southeastern Brazil holds abundant populations of dogs Massara et al, 2012), and the same patterns of transmission from dogs should warrant the presence of parasite communities similar to those from protected (Curi et al, 2010(Curi et al, , 2012) and suburban areas.…”

Maned Wolves of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

“…Armadillos are reported as maned wolf prey in nearly all studies , but in parts of central Brazil, they are the primary prey taxon in biomass, especially Dasypus septemcinctus (seven-banded armadillo; Santos et al, 2003). The high energetic value of even the smallest Los Fierros armadillo (D. septemcinctus), enough for two days of nutrition, makes them the most valuable of all common maned wolf prey.…”

“…It would be informative to experiment ex situ on passage times of fruit, rodents, and armadillos fed at night to better calibrate diet analysis from field-collected scats. Santos et al (2003) estimated a consumed biomass per scat of 469 g, while calculated 900 g/scat. In the former study, armadillos comprised 44% of consumed biomass, and in the latter, 37% of consumed biomass, while C. aperea was only 0.5%.…”

“…Maned wolves are dietary opportunists that feed on fruit, small vertebrates, and invertebrates, according to local availability. All studies show a diet that varies closely around half of fruits and half of small animal prey (Aragona and Setz, 2001;Bueno and Motta-Junior, 2004Dietz, 1984;Jácomo et al, 2004;Juarez and Marinho-Filho, 2002;Queirolo and MottaJunior, 2007;Santos et al, 2003;Silva and Talamoni, 2003). The frugivorous part of the diet is usually dominated by a single species: the giant fruits of Solanum lycocarpum (Solanaceae; "lobeira" or wolf's fruit); and the carnivorous part is usually dominated by either rodents and other small mammals or armadillos (summarized in Rodden et al, 2004;.…”

Intraocular pressure and Schirmer tear test values in maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)

“…Solitary and territorial, it has historically been considered the most typical animal of the Brazilian cerrado. With the passage of time, there has been a decline in the population due to habitat loss caused by deforestation, road accidents, hunting, illegal trade (Santos et al 2003, Rodden et al 2008 and popular belief that hold parts of maned wolf bodies (e.g. the eyes) serve as amulets and provide protection (Diniz et al 1999).…”