Maned wolf in Piaui, Brazil

© Sean Crane/Minden Picture

A lone wolf in South America

This is a maned wolf, also known as a ‘fox on stilts’, and it’s the largest species of canid in South America. As a canid, it belongs to the same family as the domestic dog, wolf and coyote. You’ll find this elegant animal among the tall grasslands of South America, where it hunts for small mammals and forages for fruits and vegetables. It’s thought that its long legs are an adaption to this landscape.