Assistants

ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF THE SHORT-EARED DOG (Atelocynus microtis) AT COCHA CASHU BIOLOGICAL STATION, PERU

Principal Investigator: Maria Renata Pereira Leite Deputy Chairman, IUCN Canids Specialist Group

Research Associate - Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation - 3705-C Erwin Rd. Durham, NC -27705 USA Phone: 919 - 4909081 Fax 919 - 4933695

Project Supported by:

In press. Chapter in C. Sillero, D.MacDonald, and J. Ginsberg (eds.), Canids: Species status and conservation action plan, second edition.

To be published by the IUCN/SSC Canids Specialist Group.

Atelocynus microtis Sclater, 1882:631 [1883]

Short-eared Dog, Short-eared Fox, Small-eared Dog, Small-eared Zorro

Other Names:

French: Chien avec oreilles courtes

German: Kurzohriger Hund

Portuguese: Cachorro-do-mato-de-orelha-curta

Spanish: Perro de monte (Bolivia); Perro de orejas cortas, Zorro negro, Zorro ojizarco (Colombia)

Indigenous Languages: Ayoreo: divequena, Chiquitano: nomensarixi, Guarayo: cuachi yaguar, More: quinamco Ninim, Moseten: achuj jhirith, Siriono: ecoijok, Tsimane: achuj foij (Bolivia); Yucuna: uálaca (Colombia); Achuar: kuap yawa, Huaorani: babei guinta, Quechua: sacha alcu jujunda puma, Iona-Secoya: wë yai (Ecuador); Guarani: aguerau (Paraguay); Amarakaeri: huiwa toto, Matsiguenga: machit, Quechua: monte alcu, Shipibo: caman ino (Peru). Names according with Alverson et. al. (2001) Canaday (unpublished), Defler and Santacruz (1994), Leite (2000), Swarner (pers comm.), Townsend et. al. (2000).

Atelocynus microtis Sclater, 1882:631 [1883]. Type locality "Amazons", restricted by Hershkovitz (1957) to "south bank of the Rio Amazonas, Pará, Brazil."

Red List Status

Data Deficient (DD)

Taxonomy

Atelocynus is a monotypic genus. Originally described as Canis microtis by Sclater (1882), was placed in the genus Lycalopex by Studer (1905), Cerdocyon by Pocock (1914), Dusicyon by Osgood (1934), and Atelocynus by Cabrera (1940). Reviewing the generic classification, Languth (1975) endorsed the monotypic genus Atelocynus. Clutton-Brock et al. (1976) placed it back in Dusicyon and Van Gelder (1973) in the genus Canis (subgenus Atelocynus). Atelocynus microtis is the currently accepted classification, based on cladistic hypotheses of relationship (Berta,1987).

Description

The short-eared dog is a medium-sized canid (10 kg). The tail is bushy, particularly in comparison to the short pelage on the rest of the body, with a light-coloured underside. The head is fox-like, with a long, slender muzzle and rounded, relatively short ears. The pelt colour can range from black to brown to rufous grey. Pelage is often darkest in a dorsal line from the head to the tail, though various colour patterns are observed in different individuals and is not clear if this is in relation to age, distribution or molt; in Cocha Cashu Biological Station, Madre de Dios, Peru, both reddish and black individuals have been observed (Leite, 2000). According to Hershkovitz (1961), an adult female was one-third larger than an adult male in captivity. The dental formula is: I3/3, C1/1, P4/4, M2/3, total 42. Figures 1 & 2 show tracks of an adult short-eared dog recorded in Cocha Cashu, Peru.

Subspecies: none described.

Similar Species: Only one other wild dog species is known to inhabit lowland Amazonian forest - the bush-dog (Speothos venaticus) -- and confusing them is unlikely due to notable physical and behavioural differences. Bush dogs are smaller, reddish, with a very short muzzle, legs and tail; they also live in packs and are seldom seen alone. Tracks may be distinguished by the bush dog's conspicuous interdigital membrane, with the middle toes fused, whereas the short-eared dog's interdigital membrane is only partial (Fig. 3). The bush dog’s stride is also shorter and the tracks and pads proportionally bigger than those of the short-eared dog. Two additional species of wild canids whose ranges border Amazonia, the crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) and the South American fox (Pseudalopex culpaeus), as well as domestic dogs, could potentially be mistaken for the short-eared dog, but none of these have such a slender long snout, short ears, and bushy tail. Tayras (Eira barbara) are also brownish and have bushy tails, but differ in their much smaller ears, yellowish throat and mostly arboreal habits. The jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi), which can have a similar colour, is smaller, more delicate and has a very slender tail (Emmons and Feer 1990).

Current Distribution

The short-eared dog has been found in scattered sites from Colombia to Bolivia and Ecuador to Brazil. Its presence in Venezuela is suggested by Hershkovitz (1961) but never proved. Several distribution ranges for the species have been presented suggesting the presence of the species in the whole Amazonian lowland forests, subtropical pre-Andean forests in Ecuador and savannas (Emmons and Feer 1990, Emmons and Feer, 1997, Tirira 1999). Trying to validate this information, we checked all museum specimens and did an extensive survey among biologists doing long-term investigation in the proposed range. Since museum specimens have been commonly mislabelled, especially at the beginning of the century (Leite and Williams, submitted) we accepted only sites with well documented museum specimens of proven origin or reliable field sightings. Consequently we obtained a much smaller distribution range, limited to the western lowland Amazonia where the northernmost record is at 1º15’57"N 70º13'19" in Mitú, Colombia (Hershkovitz 1961), the southernmost is on the west bank of the river Heath, Pampas del Heath northwest Bolivia (12^o 57'S - 68 ^o 53' W - Romo, M. pers comm. 1992), the easternmost is from near Itaboca, Brazil (4º 53'07"/ 62^o 40' 47"W - Santos et al. submitted), and the westernmost in the Rio Santiago, Peru (XXXXN 78º00’W - Museum of Vertebrate Biology of the University of California - Berkeley, collected 1979) (Fig. 4).

Range Countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.

Relative Abundance

The short-eared dog is notoriously rare, and sightings are uncommon across its range. However, this may not always have been the case. One of the first biologists to study the species found it relatively easy to trap during mammal surveys around Balta, in Amazonian Peru, in 1969 (Gardner and Patton, pers comm.). Grimwood (1969) reported collecting specimens around the same time in Peru's Manu basin (now Manu National Park), suggesting that the species was also relatively common in that area.

Following these reports, the species was practically unrecorded in the Peruvian Amazon until 1987, despite intensive field surveys of mammals being carried out in the intervening years (Terborgh et al. 1984, Janson and Emmons 1990, Woodman et al. 1991, Pacheco et al. 1993, Pacheco et al. 1995). Even Emmons who carried out long-term projects censusing and trapping ocelots and other mammals at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Manu never saw or trapped the short-eared dog (Emmons, pers comm.). For whatever reason, the species appears to have temporarily vanished from the region between 1970 and 1987 (for one possible explanation see below in Mortality and Pathogens).

Over the last decade, sightings of the dog have become relatively frequent again in Peru. Between 1987 and 1999, biologists working in the department of Madre de Dios, mostly in the vicinity of Cocha Cashu, have reported 15 encounters with the short-eared dog (Leite et al. 2000). Most recently, Leite (2000) sighted four individuals during an intensive survey of a 10-km transect between August and October 2000 at Cocha Cashu (one corpse and three live animals).

Habitat

Undisturbed rainforest in the Amazonian lowlands. In lowland forest the short-eared dog has been recorded in a wide variety of habitats, terra firme forest, swamp forest, stands of bamboo and primary succession along rivers. There are also five reliable reports of short-eared dogs swimming in rivers. At Cocha Cashu Biological Station the records (sigthings and tracks) of the species are strongly associated with rivers and creeks. Records are very rare in areas with significant human disturbance, i.e., near towns or in agricultural areas. It is unclear if the short-eared dog is able to utilise habitats other than humid lowland forest but a sighting in Rondonia, Brazil was in lowland forest bordering savanna (Messias, pers comm.).

Food and Foraging Behaviour

An ongoing study of the short-eared dog's diet, based on scat samples collected at Cocha Cashu (Leite 2000), shows the species to be a generalist carnivore (Figure 5). Fish appear to be the most important item in their diet (present in 28% of samples, n=21). Defler and Santacruz (1994) had previously suggested that fish form part of the short-eared dog’s diet, based on the cestode Diphyllobothrium latum found in a museum specimen’s intestine, as the parasite requires a fish as its intermediate host. Insects (mainly coleopterans) were the second most important item in their diet (17% of the samples). Mammal remains (agoutis, marsupials and small rodents) were present in 13% of the scats collected in Cocha Cashu. This corroborates earlier anecdotal evidence that small rodents, agoutis, pacas, and acouchys were important components of the short-eared dog's diet (Peres, 1991; Defler and Santacruz, 1994).

The remains of fruits, including Borismenia japurensis, Strychnos asperula, Unonopsis floribunda, Pouteria procera, Sciadotenia toxifera, Socratea exorrhiza, Astrocaryum murumuru, Euterpe precatoria, Trattinnickia sp., and various Cucurbitaceae and Moraceae were found in 10 % of samples. Fruits of the palm Euterpe precatoria were found germinating in two scats. Defler and Santacruz (1994) report short-eared dog eating fallen Brosimum fruits and the Cofan Indians of Ecuador report the species being attracted to fallen bananas (R. Borman, pers comm. to A. DiFiore).

Close to 4% of scats contained the remains of frogs, and an adult short-eared dog at Cocha Cashu was observed to have killed dozens of Osteocephalus taurinus around a small water hole. Parker and Bailey (1990) reported seeing a short-eared dog with a frog in its mouth in Madidi National Park, Bolivia. Crabs (10.3% of samples), birds (10.3%), reptiles (3.4%) and vegetable fibre (3.4%) were other components of the short-eared dog’s diet in Cocha Cashu.

Sallas (pers comm.) has documented a short-eared dog eating chickens near Tambopata National Reserve and Santos et al. (submitted) reported two captive individuals in Brazil also killing poultry.

Adaptations

Accumulating evidence, including the partial interdigital membrane and sightings on rivers, suggests that the short-eared dog may be at least partly aquatic.

A complete moult lasting three weeks was observed in July 1960 when a captive animal was transported from Colombia to a zoo in the United States. During the moult, large flakes of orange-brown oily exudates appeared with the falling hairs. A subsequent moult was observed in March (A. Gardner pers comm., Hershkovitz 1961).

Field reports (n=30) appear to indicate a diurnal or at least partly diurnal animal, with 95% of the observations made in daylight hours; however this probably is a reflection of observer effort. The species has been photographed at night walking on trails of Madidi National Park (Wallace, pers comm.) and one was captured swimming in a river at 3 am in Colombia (Defler and Santa Cruz 1994). This indicates nocturnal activity and we consider that the species can be active during both day and night.

Social Behaviour

Almost nothing is known about the animal's social behaviour. The few data available suggest that the short-eared dog is mainly solitary, although observations have been made of two adult animals walking together in October in Peru and between January and March in Ecuador (Campos Y., pers comm.). Two dens with pups are described by Santos et al. (submitted) in the Brazilian Amazon, near Manaus. One of them containing two adults and two pups, and one the female and two pups. At least three individuals of adult size were using a 1.6-km stretch of a white sand beach near Cocha Cashu, and two latrines were located along this beach. These latrines were used infrequently by both short-eared dogs and river otters (Lutra longicaudis).

Hershkovitz (1961) and Gardner (pers comm.) reported a strong musky odour in males for both wild and captive animals, hardly noticeable in females. According to Hershkovitz (1961) and Gardner (pers comm.), most observations of wild and captive individuals indicate that the species is very docile towards humans, with the exceptions of a captive male in the Schönbrunner Zoo and a female in the Brookfield Zoo which growled, snarled and attempted to bite when frightened, and observations of wild individuals avoiding people. In addition, when three hunters and six domestic dogs participated in a hunt in Brazil and found a pair of short-eared dog with two puppies, "the mother protected the babies fiercely, having attacked one of the domestic dogs". Another female and two puppies were sufficiently docile to allow them to be carried in a basket with no attempt being made to bite the hunters (Santos et al., submitted).

Reproduction and Denning Behaviour

Next to nothing is known about the short-eared dog's reproduction. Based on the fresh carcass of a three or four month-old juvenile found in September 2000 at Cocha Cashu Biological Station, short-eared dogs may give birth in Peru in May or June. Breeding time is not known precisely but puppies have been found in April-May, June, September and November-December suggesting a tendency for dry season birth timing.

Three dens have been found inside hollow logs (two in Brazil and one in Colombia), each one with two puppies (Defler and Santacruz 1994, Santos et. al. submitted). A confusing report from Peru suggests that four puppies may have been found in one den (Alza Leon pers comm.)

Competition

Ocelot (Felis pardalis) tracks found around the corpse of a dead juvenile in Cocha Cachu suggest it as a possible predator. Jaguar (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) are also potential predators. Considering the short-eared dog's diet, probably all medium-sized sympatric carnivores, frugivorous monkeys, rodents and ungulates, are competitors. There are few reports of the short-eared dog being persecuted by man. In one case, the species has been reported to have been killed and eaten by Yora Indigenous people of Peru (Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California MVZ No.: 181288 Accn No.: 12921). Additionally, Salas (pers comm.) reports that villagers injuring a male short-eared dog (that subsequently died), which was killing chickens in the Tambopata river region, Peru.

Mortality and Pathogens

Common viral distempers such as Canine Distemper Virus CDV and Canine Parvovirus Disease (CPV) are widespread among domestic dogs in South America. Since there is no control of the domestic dog population, they and the diseases they carry can now be found throughout the Amazon, including in the most pristine areas. They are kept throughout the region as pets, hunting companions or occur in a feral state around villages. Since potentially all wild canids species are sensitive to the distemper, it is feasible that epizootic epidemics could occur and local populations of wild canids could be eliminated. These and others infectious disease need to be better studied among the Neotropical canids and preventive measures need to be taken. No disease has been reported in wild short-eared dog individuals but Santos et al. (submitted) report the death from CDV of a one-year-old short-eared dog raised in captivity.

The cestode Diphyllobothrium latum was found as an intestinal parasite of the short-eared dog (Defler and Santacruz 1994). This tapeworm can cause pernicious anaemia and occasionally death in domestic dogs, as it competes with the host for vitamin B12.

Historical perspective

The short-eared dog is in general poorly known by indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin and is not known to hold any special significance to them. Several Huaorani in Ecuador stated that it was one of the animals they did not hunt but could not offer an explanation for this. The Amarakaeri indigenous people of Peru call the short-eared dog "huiwa toto" meaning solitary devil, as they believe that it will attack men by biting their testicles (Swarner pers comm.). There have been no specific conservation measures taken for the species.

Estimated populations/relative abundance and population trends

No information on the density of the species is available or the continuity of the species' distribution within its extent of occurrence; the absence of any records from large areas suggests that the distribution may not be continuous within the extent of occurrence. Records show the disappearance of the short-eared dog for decades in eastern Peru and Ecuador. It does however appear that the species may be increasing in at least the Manu area of Peru and the vicinity of Yasuní National Park in Ecuador with increasing numbers of sightings in recent years at both sites; perhaps indicative of recovering populations. However, the species still considered very rare and additional studies are needed to make any population estimate.

Conservation Status

Threats: Diseases (see above) and habitat loss. There are no reports of widespread persecution of the species.

Commercial Use: Reports of commercial use are scattered and few. In some cases, wild individuals have been captured for pets and occasionally for sale to local people and zoos.

Occurrence in Protected Areas: The short-eared dog could occur in most protected areas that encompass large tracts of undisturbed forest in the western Amazon. During the last decade its presence has been confirmed in the following protected areas: Manu National Park, Tambopata National Reserve, and Manu Wildlife Research Center in Peru; Madidi National Park, Tahuamanu Ecological Reserve and Estación Biologica Beni in Bolivia; Guajara Mirim State Park, Brazil; Yasuní National Park and the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador (Field Museum 1999, Leite et al. 2000, Messias pers comm.).

Protection Status:

Not listed under CITES

Current legal protection, and whether it is effective:

[list range countries under various categories. Include source:]

National legislation: Brazil, Peru

Hunting prohibited: xxx

Hunting and trade regulated: xxxx

No legal protection: xxxx

Legal status as problem animal: xxx

No information: xxxx

Conservation Measures Taken: The short-eared dog is protected on paper in some Amazonian countries, but this paper protection has not yet been backed up by specific conservation action. The species is protected by law in Brazil and Peru, and is on the Brazilian list of endangered species and on the preliminary list of Colombian endangered species (Rodriguez 1998).

Occurrence in Captivity

No short-eared dogs are known to be currently in captivity, and confirmed historical reports of captive animals are few (n=12). The first recorded captive short-eared dog (holotype) was kept at the Zoological Society of London late in the 19^th century (Sclater 1883). At around the same time, two males were kept at the Zoological Gardens of Para, Brazil and in 1933 another one in the Schönbrunner Tiergarten, Germany (Hershkovitz, 1961). Since then, individuals have been held by several US zoos (Lincoln Park Zoo, National Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, San Antonio Zoo), mostly during the 1960s and 1970s.

Most captive animals survive for less than a year, with the exception of two animals that lived for nine years (Anon 2000) and eleven years (Jones 1982). Over the last decade, sporadic reports of captive animals have come from Peru (Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado), Colombia (Medellin) and Ecuador (Quito).

Current or Planned Research Projects

The Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation (www.duke.edu/web/ctc) has an ongoing research programme on the ecology and conservation of the short-eared dog at Cocha Cashu Biological Station and is planning a strategy for its conservation in the whole Amazon basin, in collaboration with local institutions. Personnel: Dr. Maria Renata Pereira Leite, Dr. Robert S. R. Williams, and Mr. Mathew Swarner.

Gaps in knowledge: The biology and ecology of the species is virtually unknown. Especially lacking is any estimate of density and an understanding of the species’ habitat requirements.

References

Authors

Review team

Annalisa Berta, Orin Courtenay, Louise Emmons, Alfred Gardner, James Patton, Matthew Swarner, John Terborgh

Body measurements (from Nowak 1997)

HB: 720–1,000 mm

T : 250-350 mm

E : 34-52 mm

Shoulder: 356 mm

WT: 9 –10 kg

Bibliography

Anon. 2000. Isis Collection Management System: Mammalia. ISIS Specimen Reference. International Species. Information System, Apple Valley, MN: 30 September, 2000.

Berta, A. 1986. Atelocynus microtis. Mammalian Species 256:1-3.

Canaday, C. unpublished. Atelocynus microtis sightings in Amazonian Ecuador. 2pp. (birdlife@cipa.org.ec)

Defler, T. R., and Santacruz, A. 1994. A capture of and some notes on Atelocynus microtis (Sclater, 1883) (Carnivora: Canidae) in the Colombian Amazon. TRIANEA 5: 417-419.

Emmons, L. H., and Feer, F. 1990. Neotropical rainforest mammals: A field guide. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.

Field Museum, 1999. Bolivia: Pando, Rio Tahuamanu. Rapid Biological Inventories. Report 1. Chicago, IL: The Field Museum. complete

Grimwood, I. R. 1969. Notes on the distribution and status of some Peruvian mammals, 1968. Special publication no. 21 of the American Committee of International Wildlife Protection and New York Zoological Society. Bronx, New York, USA.

Hershkovitz P. 1961. On the South American Small-eared Zorro Atelocynus microtis Sclater (Canidae). Fieldiana - Zoology, 39:505-523.

Jones, M.L. (1982) Longevity of captive mammals. Zool. Garten 52: 113-28.

Leite, M.R.P. 2000. Ecologia y conservacion del perro de orejas cortas en la Estación Biológica de Cocha Cashu, Peru. Report presented to INRENA – Peru. 19 pp.

Leite, M.R.P., Williams, R. and Canaday, C. (2000). South America’s elusive rain forest canid, the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis): Ecology, diet and social behavior. Proceedings for Defenders of Wildlife Carnivores 2000 conference, 12-15 November, 2000, Denver, CO pp180.

Pacheco, V.; Patterson, B. D.; Patton, J. L.; Emmons, L. H.; Solari, S. and Ascorra, C. F. 1993. List of mammal species known to occur in Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru. Publicaciones del Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional del Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, (A) 44: 1-12.

Pacheco, V.; de Macedo, H.; Vivar, E.; Ascorra, C. F. ;Arana-Cardo, R. and Solari, S. 1995. Lista anotada de los mamiferos peruanos. Occasional Papers in Conservation Biology 2: 1-35.

Parker T.A. III and Bailey, B., editors. 1990. A Biological Assessment of the Alto Madidi Region and Adjacent Areas of Northwest Bolivia, May 18 –June 15, 1990. Distributed for the Conservation International. 108p.

Peres, C. A. 1992. Observations on hunting by small-eared (Atelocynus microtis) and bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) in central-western Amazonia. Mammalia 55: 635-639.

Pocock, R. I. 1914. On the feet of the canidae and ursidae.. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London. Pp 913 – 941.

Rodriguez, J. V., 1998. Listas preliminares de mamíferos colombianos con algún riesgo a la extinción. Informe final presentado al Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. URL: http://www.humboldt.org.co/Listas_Preliminares.htm

Santos et all. in prep. . Two records of captive short-eared dogs (Atelocynus microtis) in Amazonia, with notes on the biology, ecology and threats to the conservation of this poorly known canid

Sclater, P. L. 1882. Reports on the additions to the Society’s menagerie in June, July, August, September, and October. Proceedings Zoological. Society, London, 1882: 631.

Terborgh, J. W.; Fitzpatrick, J. W. and Emmons L. H. 1984. Annotated checklist of bird and mammal species of Cocha Cashu Biological Station, Manu National Park, Peru. Fieldiana: Zoology n.s. 21: 1-29.

Townsend, W.R.; Rivero, K.; Peña, C. and Linzer, K. Eds. 2000. Memorias sel Primer Encuentro Nacional de Manejo de Fauna en Territorios Indigenas de Bolivia. PAF-BOL. Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Woodman N.; Timm, R. M.; Arana-Cardo, R.; Pacheco, V.; Schmidt, C. A;. Hooper, E. D. and Pacheco-Acero C. 1991. Annotated checklist of the mammals of Cuzco Amazonico, Peru. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 145: 1-12.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank A.Gardner, H.Beck, A.Forsyth, T.Defler, M.Messias, M.Vivo, C.Canaday, L.Jost, L.Coloma, F.Campos Y., M.Foster, L.Lopez, M.Silman, S.Miller, R.Wallace, F.Wilkinson, A.Salas, D.Wilamowski, M.Boddicker, P.Santos and S.Ferrari, who shared their field observations; M.Hafner, B.Stanley, B.Patterson, V.Pacheco, J.Amanzo, A.Percequillo, O.Vaccaro, D.Hills, S.Maris, L.Salles, S.Marques-Aguiar, C.Indrusiak and T.Pacheco who helped us with museum data; A.Shoemaker, D.Kleiman, M.Murphy, C.Arias, for helping us with data on captive animals, and to N.Pitman, who helped with the manuscript preparation. Special thanks go to J.Terborgh, who encouraged and stimulated this work from its inception; and to Disney Conservation Fund, IdeaWild and Wildlife Materials for financial support.