Cerdocyon thous
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Fox sighting in Tayrona National Natural Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 11 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Crab-eating Fox in Tayrona National Natural Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months. Those are among Tayrona National Natural Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 180 mm in October.
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.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Crab-eating Fox sightings, Tayrona National Natural Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in El Palmar National Park (Argentina, about 70%), Emas National Park (Brazil, about 60%) and Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Crab-eating Fox is recorded against all the mammals logged in Tayrona National Natural Park (9 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.
