together for the short period of time raising the litter of young (4). This places them in the position where the females and males are very much equal, hunting, defending territory, and supporting themselves even when together (4).

Maned wolves mainly inhabit grassland and scrubland regions with rivers and forests near by (20). Due to the open spaces they occupy, these amazing creatures conduct most of their activities during the night and twilight periods.

Historically, through the 16th and 20th centuries, the maned wolves occupied almost all of Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay, and a large portion of Argentina (20). Since that time, their range and population number have dwindled drastically to the point that they are labeled vulnerable and even near threatened in some regions (13).  Many believe that this range reduction is due to human activity, mostly cattle ranching and agricultural expansion destroying their habitat and viable vegetation but also hunting as well (13,20). They now currently span central Brazil, northern and eastern Bolivia, and southeastern Peru (20). Although the range has diminished, some sightings are still seen in Argentina and Uruguay and they have recently been making small expansions along the paths of deforestation for cattle ranching settlements in eastern Brazil (20).  This is a fantastic development because it indicates that maned wolves have some level of adaptability to anthropogenic environments (20).