As much as you've never seen a maned wolf in the flesh, you certainly know what it is and could recognize it quite easily, right? This was not the case for a group of foreign internet users who were confused by a video of this animal crossing the street.
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The video (watch below) was shared on twitter by Reg Saddler. The images show the maned wolf calmly crossing the street. “Does anyone know what this is?” asked the netizen.
The publication has already surpassed 2 million views and had thousands of responses. Some social network users were as confused as he was, others were shocked and yet another part of people were scared.
While some stamped their foot claiming to be a wolf, others found the animal very similar to a fox. There were people, still, who swore standing together that it was a hyena or coyote. And, of course, there were those who said that the video is fake.
End of maned wolf mystery
The Fascinating page (@fasc1nate on Twitter) shared the video with the correct answer. “The maned wolf is a large canid native to South America. Despite its appearance, it is neither fox nor wolf,” he wrote.
The maned wolf is a large canine native to South America. Despite its appearance, it's neither a fox or wolf. pic.twitter.com/efgFnHhwB3
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) December 4, 2022
It seems, but it's not
The “wolf” in maned wolf is just a nickname. According to the O Eco website, the animal does not belong to the genus Canis, which includes dogs, wolves, coyotes and jackals. Nor does he belong to the Vulpes genus of foxes. Interestingly, it is a unique species.
Our friend in the video is the largest canid native to South America. Believe it or not, it can reach an incredible 1m in height and 1.30m in length. In addition, it can weigh from 20 to 23 kg.
It lives throughout Central South America, from northeast Brazil to northern Uruguay. The canid loves areas of open vegetation, such as fields, savannahs and cerrado forests and, as it is omnivorous, it has a varied diet: it eats small mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and some fruits.
Incidentally, the maned wolf is a great fan of wolf fruit. And the fruit needs the animal to include it in the diet, as it is its main seed disperser.
Unfortunately, the canid is classified as “near threatened” with extinction, due to its constant loss of habitat and poaching. Traffic accidents and the expansion of agriculture also enter into the equation. In the latter case, the problem lies in conflicts between the maned wolf and domestic animals.
Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.