Maned wolf hunting

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Maned wolf hunting is the practice of hunting maned wolves. The species is particularly targeted for sport hunting purposes, and in some cases to protect livestock, particularly poultry farming. The species is a recurring target for trophy hunting, considered a highly difficult target to capture due to its exceptional speed and agility, which is why hunters use dogs to hunt this animal. The countries where the species has suffered the most, in ancient and modern times, are Brazil and Argentina.

The practice of hunting maned wolves is historically poorly documented, but it is speculated to be relatively frequent. This is partly because during the Portuguese and Spanish colonization of South America, Europeans projected onto the maned wolf the historical aversion they had towards Iberian wolves, and their reputation for eating sheep and other domestic animals.^[2] And even though the species is now better seen, many people consider it a potential risk to domestic birds and children.

In Argentina, the species is more threatened because it is captured for sport hunting purposes, and also by farmers who seek to exterminate them to avoid the threat to birds. Although hunting there is well-known, it has been little studied.

In Brazil, the impacts of hunting on the species are better known. And the impacts of animal predation on domestic birds are also better known, which forces retaliation from farmers.^[3] Despite the species being repeatedly accused of attacking sheep, which increases human aversion to them. In Brazil, people also aimed to prevent these animals from attacking chickens, using a Brazilian variant of the Portuguese podengo, called the Brazilian podengo or Crioulo podengo.

It is currently known that the dogs most used in hunting these canids are the Rastreador brasileiro, who hunted maned wolves in a hunting style very similar to that used in fox hunting. Given the enormous resistance of these hunting dogs and their ability to continue hunting for kilometers, they are almost a ''natural counter'' to maned wolves, and make it even more limiting for the species to survive these events.