The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) — South America's largest canid — is the Cerrado's emblematic species. With long legs adapted for tall savanna grass, maned wolves are solitary and omnivorous. Estimated 13,000-17,000 remain. Welfare threats include road mortality (a major cause of death), habitat fragmentation, and occasional persecution by farmers who mistake them for chicken raiders. The Pró-Lobo project monitors and protects maned wolves, including road kill mitigation through wildlife underpasses.
Giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) are vulnerable to wildfire — seasonal burning for pasture management causes significant mortality — and road kills. Both threats cause individual welfare harm on a significant scale across the Cerrado. Vehicle collision is one of the primary welfare and mortality threats for this charismatic species throughout its range.
The giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) — the world's largest armadillo — is vulnerable and threatened by habitat loss. Giant armadillos create burrows that serve as habitat for many other species, making their welfare ecologically significant beyond individual animals. The Giant Armadillo Conservation Project (Projeto Tatu-Canastra) conducts monitoring and research in the Cerrado.
The Cerrado continues to be deforested at approximately 7,000-10,000 km²/year for soy and cattle. Each cleared hectare displaces or kills resident wildlife. The welfare scale of Cerrado habitat loss is enormous but largely invisible because the Cerrado lacks the international recognition of the Amazon. Protecting the Cerrado is one of the highest-impact wildlife welfare interventions available in South America.
Seasonal fire — both natural and agricultural — creates significant acute welfare events for Cerrado wildlife. Giant anteaters and armadillos are particularly vulnerable to fire due to slow locomotion. Fire management research explores controlled burning regimes that maintain ecological function while reducing welfare harm to slow-moving ground animals.
The BR-163 and other major highways crossing the Cerrado cause massive road kill. Estimates suggest hundreds of thousands of vertebrates are killed annually on Cerrado highways. Road mitigation — wildlife underpasses, fencing, signage, reduced speed limits — receives growing attention from conservation and welfare perspectives.