The culpeo is a South American species of wild dog. It is the second largest South American canid after the maned wolf. In its appearance it resembles a fox. It has grey fur, a white chin, reddish legs, and a stripe on its back which may be barely visible.
Its distribution extends from Ecuador and Peru to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. It is most common on the western slopes of the Andes, where it inhabits open country and deciduous forests.
Its diet consists of rodents, rabbits, birds, lizards, and, to a lesser extent, plants or carrion. Allegedly the culpeo attacks sheep and therefore it is often hunted or poisoned. In some regions it has become rare, but the species is not threatened with extinction.
Culpeos prey on sheep, and in many areas of Patagonia, particularly in Chubut and Santa Cruz Provinces, they are killed with poison which also damages non-target species.
Hunting of culpeos was banned in Neuquén during 1981 and 1982, but since the ban was lifted in 1983 the legal harvest has not recovered.
Novaro, A. Feeding ecology and abundance of a harvested population of culpeofox (Dusicyonculpaeus) in Patagonia.