Comportamento do Lobo-guará, Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger, 1815) (Mammalia: Canidae) na Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural do Caraça

Abstract

The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus, Illiger, 1815) is the biggest representative of Canidae in South America, occupying areas of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil, with large distribution through many different biomes such as Cerrado (hilly savannah), Pampas (southern plains), some regions of Pantanal floodlands, Atlantic Forest and transition areas between Cerrado and Caatinga (semi-arid landscape), but has suffered great reductions in the southern portion of its distribution through the advance of anthropized areas that puts the species in risk, being classified by IUCN as near threatened, and by local environmental authorities as vulnerable. The region of Santuário do Caraça encompasses a maned wolf population that presents a behavioral peculiarity in its contact with humans, habituation to anthropic presence, especially when compared with James Dietz’s work, which registers the animal’s typical reactions towards human beings. Bekoff and Biben also categorize C. Brachyurus’s ontogenetic behavior development functionally, creating a database that serves as means of comparison for further research. For indexing and writing detailed behavior, as well as proposing hypotheses, we have used Fagundes' notation method, which uses Skinner's understanding of behavior and habituation as basis, as means of understanding specimen learning through the analysis of behavioral repertoire. With these authors as a standpoint, an audiovisual register of local specimens’ behavior was made in Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Santuário do Caraça, creating a database that can be analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, observing said behavior and comparing it with literature available of specimens both in the wild as well as in captivity.