The maned wolf is a unique, solitary canid of South American grasslands whose welfare is threatened by habitat loss, road strikes, and disease from domestic dogs.
Wild maned wolves face welfare threats driven primarily by the destruction of the Cerrado biome. Road strikes — often fatal or severely injuring this long-legged canid — are a chronic threat as agricultural roads bisect their territories. Disease spillover from domestic dogs in farming communities causes parvovirus and distemper outbreaks that kill individual wolves and affect small isolated populations. Habitat fragmentation forces maned wolves into smaller territories with less prey and fruit availability. Persecution from farmers concerned about poultry predation leads to poisoning and shooting. Captive maned wolves face welfare challenges as solitary, wide-ranging animals — they develop stereotypic pacing and reproductive problems in typical zoo enclosures. Wildlife overpasses and crossing structures on major roads have been shown to reduce maned wolf road mortality.