Originally from the Andean areas of South America, the culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus) is sometimes called “fox,” despite being more closely related to canids like wolves and jackals than to real foxes. This animal is the biggest of the Lycalopex (South American fox), making it the second-largest canid endemic to the continent after the maned wolf. Culpeo has a dorsal stripe that is barely visible, reddish-gray hair, a white chin, and reddish legs.
Culpeo Was Once a Pet Animal
Small mammals, birds, reptiles, and even some plant life and carrion make up the bulk of the culpeo’s diet. It is often hunted or poisoned because of its propensity to attack sheep when given the chance. While its numbers are dwindling in certain areas, the species as a whole is safe.
The indigenous Selknam people of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, tamed the culpeo, creating the only dog breed not descended from the gray wolf. However, European immigrants wiped out this domesticated version before 1919.
Culpeo was scientifically named Lycalopex culpaeus for the first time by the Chilean priest Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.
The Meaning of Their Name
The name “culpeo” comes from the Mapuche word culpem, which means “madness,” due to the species’ notorious boldness in the face of predators.
How Did Culpeo Evolve?
According to an examination of mitochondrial DNA sequences in the HV1 and HV2 sections, the culpeo and the South American gray fox are very closely related, having separated from a common ancestor about 600,000–350,000 years ago in the Middle to Upper Pleistocene. This makes both species the youngest of the Lycalopex. This is the latest phylogenetic tree:
- Cerdocyonina
- Speothos
- Maned wolf
- Dusicyon
- Lycalopex
- Jaguapitango
- Sechuran fox
- Darwin’s fox
- Pampas fox
- Culpeo
- South American gray fox
- Crab-eating fox
- Short-eared dog
It inhabits mountains, grasslands, deserts, and forests.
Culpeo’s Appearance
The culpeo fox, sometimes called the Andean fox or zorro culpeo, may range in size from 17 to 37 inches (45 to 95 cm) long from nose to tail tip and weigh anywhere from about 9 to 13 pounds (4 to 7.5 kg). The average male is taller and heavier than the average female. Its muzzle is long and its skull is adorned with tiny bony crests; its back is gray with black stripes down the middle; its flanks and lateral areas of the limbs are reddish; its feet are light-colored on the top; its mouth margin is white or light gray; and its tail is adorned with a black spot and is entirely black at the tip.
Where Do They Live?
It is distributed especially along the Andes Mountains, from southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and half of Argentina in the west, reaching in the south to the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego.
The southern parts of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego are within the species’ range. There are groups living in Colombia’s southern areas. The wide plains and deciduous woods of the western Andes are home to a large population of this species. There are also native populations of culpeos in the most westerly regions of the Falkland Islands, where humans first introduced them.
Deserts, mountains, shrublands, and broad plains like the Altiplano in South America are common habitats for culpeo foxes.
The Things They Hunt
The culpeo fox is an adaptable predator that may make use of a variety of different food sources. They eat mainly rodents and lagomorphs (particularly European rabbits and hares, introduced by humans), but also domestic animals and juvenile guanaco. As a result of the rabbit population decline that began after their introduction in 1915, the culpeo fox was able to extend its habitat from the Andean foothills to the plains of Patagonia. Newborn lambs are a common target. Some research suggests that the culpeo fox is much more successful than the South American gray fox, mountain cats, pampas cats, galictis (grisons), and other raptors in the area. Although their ranges overlap, competition between the puma and culpeo is low due to the puma’s greater size.
The months of August through October mark the peak of mating activity. The mother bear gives birth to a brood of 2–5 cubs in a rocky den after a 55–60-day pregnancy.
It feeds on rodents, hares, birds, and lizards; to a lesser extent, it consumes plants and carrion.
How About Their Population?
It is abundant, but its number is unknown. In Colombia, its population would be at least 1000 specimens in protected areas. In Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, it is scarce in areas with a lot of human presence, but it is found in protected areas where more than 2000 specimens live. It is in Chile and Argentina where the largest population is, especially in the Patagonian area.
Farmers worry about the culpeo fox, even though attacks on sheep are quite uncommon. However, culpeos are still being hunted at alarming rates and face extinction in areas with high human population densities. Despite this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers it to be a “least concern” species for now.
The oldest known individual in the wild lived to be 11 years old.
Culpeos and Humans
Killing for culpeo furs was a common practice up until the early 1990s. Chile sent over 2,100 pelts of culpeos and South American gray foxes in 1986. From 1976 to 1982, Argentina exported an average of 4,600 culpeo pelts every year. Between 1983 and 1996, exports dropped to the low thousands and then almost disappeared by 1997.
The culpeo fox has a more favorable connotation among Andean cultures than its European counterpart, the red fox. Along with the puma, the culpeo fox is invoked as a spiritual guardian of newborns in Quechua beliefs. Its apparent lack of fear of people has earned it a reputation as a creature that can live peacefully with humans and the rest of nature. Defending crops against culpeo foxes is a rite of passage that marks a man’s acceptance into society and earns him the title of “ararihua”. In order to better oppose it, the Ararihua historically donned culpeo fox furs during their vigils.
DNA testing on fur samples from Tierra del Fuego confirmed that the local Selknam people’s extinct canines were descended from the culpeo fox. In 1883, a European scientific expedition to Cape Horn characterized the tamed culpeo fox, also known as the “Fuegian dog,” as an “ugly” animal resembling a fox with “long tawny fur and a pointed muzzle.” They were no good as watchdogs, although they may have been handy for catching otters. Because they were dangerous to the cattle of European missionaries, the Fuegian dogs were wiped off before 1919.
Subspecies
This species is subdivided into six subspecies:
- Lycalopex culpaeus andinus (Thomas, 1914)
- Lycalopex culpaeus culpaeus (Molina, 1782) Common culpeo fox
- Lycalopex culpaeus lycoides (Philippi, 1896) Fuegian fox
- Lycalopex culpaeus magellanicus (Gray, 1837) Red fox or Patagonian culpeo
- Lycalopex culpaeus reissii (Hilzheimer, 1906) Ecuadorian culpeo fox or moor wolf
- Lycalopex culpaeus smithersi (Thomas, 1914)
Cultural References
- A JetSmart Airbus A320 is decorated with a culpeo fox.
- A culpeo fox was chosen as the mascot for the 2015 Copa America, under the name Zincha.
- In the Chilean novel Quillay, by Diego R. Guzmán, there is a culpeo fox named Lycal that accompanies the rabbits that are the protagonists of the story. It is also mentioned in The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.
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