South American Coati

The South American coati is widespread in tropical and subtropical South America. It occurs in the lowland forests east of the Andes as high as 2,500 m (8,200 ft) from Colombia and The Guianas south to Uruguay and northern Argentina. Nasua nasua occupancy is significantly and negatively related to elevation but positively related to forest cover. It has been recorded in west Ecuador, and north and west Colombia. In Argentina, it has been recorded in Santa Fe and Salta Provinces. It has been introduced and naturalized on the island of Mallorca, where it is considered an invasive species. The only documented records of white-nosed coati in South America are from far northwestern Colombia, in the Gulf of Urabá region, near the Colombian border with Panama. The smaller mountain coati lives foremost at altitudes above the South American coati, but there is considerable overlap.

The South American coati is diurnal and lives both on the ground and in trees. It is omnivorous but primarily eats fruit, invertebrates, other small animals, and bird eggs. It also searches for fruit in trees high in the canopy and uses its snouts to poke through crevices to find animal prey on the ground. Furthermore, it also searches for animal prey by turning over rocks on the ground or ripping open logs with its claws. The South American coati was found to be a host of an intestinal acanthocephalan parasitic worm, Pachysentis lauroi. Females typically live in large groups, called bands, consisting of 15 to 30 animals. Males are usually solitary. Solitary males were originally considered a separate species due to their different social habits and were called coatimundis, a term still sometimes used today. Neither bands of females nor solitary males defend a unique territory, and territories therefore overlap. Group members can produce soft whining sounds, but alarm calls are different, consisting of loud woofs and clicks. Coatis typically sleep in the trees. When an alarm call is sounded, they climb trees, and then drop down to the ground and disperse. Predators of the South American coati include foxes, jaguars, jaguarundis, and occasionally humans.

Reproduction. All females in a group come into heat simultaneously when fruit is in season and mate with several males. …