Dog of the bushes

The dog of the bushes ( Speothos venaticus ) one is canidé alive in Central America and South America. Present in the Guianese forest, it lives in group and does not move away from the accesses of wood.

Characteristics

It is approximately 30 cm high, 60 cm length and weighs from 5 to 7 kg. Peeling is reddish and the tail, relatively short is maroon. The head is square, the small ears and the short legs. The fingers are connected by membranes which facilitate swimming. It is a semi-watery animal which plunges and swims with a great facility.

The group, of ten individuals, strongly arranged hierarchically, is formed of several couples monogamists and small of the couple dominating. The Gestation lasts approximately 67 days and the range is from 4 to 6 small which are born in their burrow and are fed by the adults during 5 months. Sexual maturity is reached in 12 months and the life expectancy is 10 years. Their activity is diurnal and the night they sleep in burrows or the cavities of the trees.

It nourishes mainly rodents of big size like the Agouti, the Capybara but also consumes birds, Amphibians and small reptiles.

It is not authorized with hunting nor for the trade and profits from a total protection. IUCN classifies it like vulnerable animal because of the destruction of its habitat and the insulation of its zones of distribution.

Classification

The species was described for the first time in 1842 starting from fossils found in a cave of Brazil. The live animal was discovered only later. Certain Indian tribes of Brazil raise some like pet.

There exist 3 subspecies:

Speothos venaticus panamensis (Panama)
Speothos venaticus venaticus (Ecuador and Colombia, North of Venezuela, Surinam, Guyana, North and center of Brazil and threatened in Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina)
Speothos venaticus wingei (South-eastern of Brazil)

External bonds

ARKive - images and vidéos of '' (Speothos venaticus) ''

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