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The maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus is a nocturnal and shy species, which has proven difficult to study in the field; consequently, data about its behavioural biology are almost absent from the scientific literature. However, recent advances in global positioning system (GPS) technology mean that it is now possible to study the socio-spatial dynamics of this species in the field. In the present study three related maned wolves (an adult pair and their juvenile female offspring) were monitored by GPS tracking collars for a 6-month period, which included the birth of a litter of pups to the adult pair. The three GPS collars were programmed to record the position of the wearer every 2 h (simultaneously for all three individuals). Analyses of the data from the three individuals showed that the female had the largest home range, then the male and finally the juvenile. Furthermore, there was considerable overlap in home-range use by all three individuals. The home ranges of the adult pair also varied in relation to the birth of pups (decreasing dramatically and then showing a slow increase). During the night, which is the normal period of activity for this species, the three individuals avoided contact with each other. However, during the day, the adult pair usually slept together and their juvenile slept within a few hundred metres of their location. The distance travelled at night was greatest for the female, then the male and finally the juvenile. These data suggest that (1) the social bond between the male and female is strong, (2) maned wolves are highly tolerant of their juvenile offspring, even in the case of new pups being born, and (3) that maned wolves do not hunt together and, in fact, avoid each other when hunting.

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No abstract

In many species of canids the male's role in reproduction extends to providing extensive or some parental care to his offspring. Maned wolves are a monogamous canid species whose males have been observed providing parental care to their offspring in captivity, but no field observations exist. We observed a wild pair of maned wolves at their nest site in a period soon after the female had given birth for a total period of 65 days. We made five observation sessions with an average of 3-4 days each separated by approximately 2 weeks. Direct visual observations of maned wolves were made each 30 min during the hours of darkness (17:00-07:00) using night-vision binoculars and confirmed by VHF radiotelemetry. During observations we recorded the location of the male and the female in relation to the nest (i.e., in the nest, nearby or long way from the nest). The results showed that the female spent more than 60.44% of her time in or near the nest. The male spent 28.90% of his time in or near the nest. There was a positive significant correlation between the female and the male in terms of the amount of time spent in or near the nest (P<0.01). The maned wolves showed a strong temporal variation in time spent in or near the nest. In conclusion, our data show that wild male maned wolves--probably--provide parental care through provision of food to their female and presumed offspring rather than "babysitting."