Crab-eating Fox

Crabs are only part of what this grey-brown South American canid eats. It hunts them along muddy floodplain edges, but its menu shifts through the year as flooding, insect numbers and fruit crops change what is easiest to find.

• Pairs are monogamous and often forage together at night, and both parents bring food to the growing pups.
• Litters usually hold three to six pups, born in a burrow taken over from another animal or hidden in dense vegetation.
• Despite its name it is not a true fox of the genus Vulpes, but belongs to a separate South American lineage of canids.
• By dropping the seeds of fruits it swallows, it helps disperse many plants across farmland and forest edges.

They are mostly nocturnal or crepuscular, foraging when cover improves. Their rhythm bends around opportunity.

Habitat: savannah, marsh edge, and seasonally flooded grassland

Native range: South America

Crabs, fruit, insects, rodents, birds, reptiles, carrion, and eggs.

They are mostly nocturnal or crepuscular, foraging when cover improves. Their rhythm bends around opportunity.

Wild lifespan has not been measured. In captivity animals have lived for about 11 years.

Three to six pups are born after a gestation of about eight weeks; females raise pups in dens with pair or family support. The young are weaned at roughly three months.

Males and females are alike in colour and close in size; nothing in their appearance separates them at a distance.

Rarity: Relatively common · 42/100. Crab-eating Fox remains fairly widespread where savannah, marsh edge, and seasonally flooded grassland is still available.

• Keep distance and let the animal choose the space.
• Avoid blocking movement routes, nesting areas, or feeding behavior.
• Use optics, patience, and quiet observation instead of crowding for a closer view.