Cerdocyon thous
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), also known as the forest dog, wood fox, bushfox (not to be confused with the bush dog) or maikong, is an extant species of medium-sized canid endemic to the central part of South America since at least the Pleistocene epoch. Like South American foxes, which are in the genus Lycalopex, it is not closely related to true foxes. Cerdocyon comes from the Greek words kerdo (meaning fox) and kyon (dog) referring to the dog- and fox-like characteristics of this animal.
The crab-eating fox was originally described as Canis thous by Linnaeus (1766), and first placed in its current genus Cerdocyon by Hamilton-Smith in 1839. Cerdocyonina is a tribe which appeared around 6.0 million years ago (Mya) in North America as Ferrucyon avius becoming extinct by around 1.4–1.3 Mya. living about 4.7 million years. This genus has persisted in South America from an undetermined time, possibly around 3.1 Mya, and continues to the present in the same or a similar form to the crab-eating fox.
As one of the species of the tribe Canini, it is related to the genus Canis. The crab-eating fox's nearest living relative, as theorized at present, is the... Wikipedia →
Call1:29
Argentina · 2021
© Jacob Wijpkema · XC998019 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:45
Argentina · 2018
© Leonardo Adrián LEIVA · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:09
Brazil · 2023
© Breno Farias · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoobotanic Park of Brusque | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Zoológico de Brasília | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Curitiba Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Parque Municipal Summit | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Ukumarí Biopark | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Gramado Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Parque Zoobotânico Getúlio Vargas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Parque Zoobotânico Arruda Câmara (BICA) | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Zoológico Municipal de Cascavel | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 11 | Municipal Zoological Park Quinzinho de Barros | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 12 | Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Parque Ecológico de São Carlos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 14 | Zoo Americana / Parque Ecológico Municipal | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 15 | Bosque dos Jequitibás | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 16 | Bioparque Los Ocarros | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 17 | Parque de la Conservación | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 18 | Parque Zoobotânico de Joinville | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 19 | El Nispero Zoo | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 20 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 21 | Pantanal Aquarium | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 22 | Zoológico de Canindé | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 23 | Fundação Zoobotânica de Marabá | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 24 | Zooparque Itatiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Fox sighting in Emas National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 15 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Fox in Emas National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January and June, the lowest months. That is one of Emas National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain against 190 mm in January.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Crab-eating Fox sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Crab-eating Fox sightings, Emas National Park ranks 2nd at about 60%. The best odds are in El Palmar National Park (Argentina, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Canidae
The closest relatives of the Crab-eating Fox that you can see in Emas National Park (family Canidae, Canids) are Maned Wolf (about 70%) and Hoary Fox (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crab-eating Fox is recorded against all the mammals logged in Emas National Park (44 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
