Its presence in Uruguay is almost mythical, to the point that videos supposedly taken in our country frequently circulate on the networks but which invariably turn out to be from Brazil or Argentina. This time, however, there is no doubt: a maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyrus) was filmed in great detail and under unusual circumstances in Uruguay. The record of the so-called “fox with stilts” was captured by an employee of an agricultural company in Salto (the area does not want to indicate the area for fear that they want to hunt it), who was serene in the place when he saw the animal walking slowly towards one of the entrance doors to the plant. The filming, taken on August 30 at dawn by the vigilante Víctor Fontora shows how the maned guazú walks cautiously down a dirt street until it reaches one of the main doors and when it hears a noise it flees from the place at great speed. The officials sent to La Diaria the filmed material that had repercussions on social networks.
NOT THE FIRST SIGHTING
The maned wolf is a canid with reddish fur and black legs that can grow up to 70 centimeters tall. Those characteristics make it easily identifiable. Guará fox lives camouflaged among grasslands and grasslands. It feeds on vegetables and other smaller animals, which it hunts at night. It is not the first sighting of this species of canid in Salto, since in 2018 a honey producer who was returning from a field with his son observed one of these specimens when he arrived near the bridge over the Itapebí Grande stream, – near the El Charrúa neighborhood – a fact that was reported by CAMBIO. According to the man’s account, on that occasion there were two specimens that he identified as maned guazú because their back legs were higher than the front ones.
ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES
The main problem that threatens the maned guazú is the destruction of its natural habitat, illegal trade and its capture as a pet, run over on routes and roads and hunting, a product of being considered in many cases a harmful species for feeding on wild animals. small farm.
The turkey guazú does not constitute a risk to humans or domestic livestock; prefers smaller prey, and is excessively shy to enter ranches or villages. However, he has suffered extensively from hunting, motivated among other reasons by the superstition that assimilates him to the werewolf or werewolf. The transmission of exotic diseases has also diminished it considerably.