Lycalopex culpaeus
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), also known as Culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf, and colpeo fox, is a species of South American fox. Despite the name, it is not a true fox, but more closely related to wolves and jackals. Its appearance resembles that of foxes due to convergent evolution.
The culpeo's diet consists largely of rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, and to a lesser extent, plant material and carrion. They may prey on Andean flamingos and baby vicuña. The culpeo sometimes attacks farm animals, among them sheep, goats and poultry; for this, it is hunted in rural Chile and Argentina. In some regions, it has become rare, but overall the species is not threatened with extinction.
The culpeo was domesticated by the Selkʼnam people of Tierra del Fuego, producing the Fuegian dog which became extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century. The culpeo is a canid intermediate in size between a red fox and a coyote. It is the second-largest native canid on the continent after the maned wolf. In appearance, it bears many similarities to the widely recognized red fox. It has grey and reddish fur, a white chin, reddish legs and a stripe... Wikipedia →
Recording0:08
Chile · 2025
© nitsuga74 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierra del Fuego National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 3 | Nahuel Huapi National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Lauca National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 5 | Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bioparque Municipal Vesty Pakos | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Amaru | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Parque de las Leyendas | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Chilean National Zoo | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 5 | Zoológico de Concepción | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 6 | Zoológico de Oruro | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 7 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 8 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Cóndor | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Culpeo sighting in Torres del Paine National Park on a given day, based on 48 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 8 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, May and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Culpeo in Torres del Paine National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Culpeo sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Culpeo sightings, Torres del Paine National Park ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Tierra del Fuego National Park (Argentina, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Culpeo is recorded against all the mammals logged in Torres del Paine National Park (48 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.
