Behavior Culpeo society is hierarchical and matriarchal in the sense that female foxes of a litter fight for dominance. Dominant females inherit the territory of their parents, while males leave their natal territory. Intraspecific competition is dealt with through the social hierarchy, with the dominant, or alpha, female eating first. The dominant female of each territory also has exclusive breeding rights. Submissive females must leave and establish their own territory in order to breed.
Courtship is an important ritual for culpeos, it takes place during the winter months.
Only dominant females mate, and only after a lengthy ritual involving mock fighting and bipedal wrestling where each fox's forelimbs rest on the other's shoulders. On the western side of the Andes mountains they are found between 1000m and 4500m in elevation, but they have never been detected in the wetter lowland forests of the eastern slopes. Across much of their range culpeos avoid denser forests for the open grasslands that sustain large populations of mice and hares. They also inhabit sloped regions that provide good shelter. They may also be hunted for sport.