Similar to most wolves, maned wolves communicate by howling. Maned wolves are opportunistic omnivores, feeding on available plants and animals. They have weak jaws and are limited to a meat diet of rodents, reptiles, ground birds, eggs, fish, frogs and insects. Plant intake includes bananas, sugar cane and many wild fruits. Gestation lasts for 65 days.
Females bear their young in a nest of thick vegetation rather than digging dens.
For many years males were not believed to play an active role in the rearing of young. Pups are brownish-gray when born and do not develop the characteristic long legs for several months after birth. Distribution and Range Originally the range of the maned wolf extended from the northern tip of Brazil, along the edge of the Amazon Basin, south into the northern parts of Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay. They frequent remote lands and avoid man to the best of their ability. They are generally shy, solitary animals.