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Maned Wolf
We are home to a pair of Maned wolves, male Tolock and female Lua, and their two pups Xingu and Jurua. You can find them in the centre of the zoo, by the Queen’s Grove picnic area.
They are extremely shy, secretive animals and they might take some patience to spot on your visit. Try visiting them first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon for the best chances.
Class:
Carnivora
Order:
Primates
Family:
Canidae
About the maned wolf
Maned wolves, which stand nearly a metre tall and weigh up to 25kg, are South America's largest wild dog. Despite their name, they are neither wolves nor foxes, but a distinct species.
Their long legs are an adaptation to help them navigate the tall grasslands and scrub-edge of forests across central and eastern South America.
Unlike pack animals, they're largely solitary except during breeding season, and eat everything from small mammals and insects to fruit and vegetation.
As well as different vocalisations, maned wolves also communicate through scent marking with their urine, which has a very pungent odour similar to that of a distinctive species of plant... you'll likely recognise what this is when walking past their enclosure!
Conservation
Maned wolves are not social animals. They like to lead a quiet, solitary lifestyle, and often hunt at dawn or dusk, which makes them vulnerable to hunting.
The main threat to these canines is habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly due to agricultural conversion of grasslands. Fewer than 17,000 survive in the wild, and the species is carefully managed through the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) to maintain genetic diversity for potential future reintroduction efforts.
As a species notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, Paignton Zoo is proud to have successfully bred maned wolves on a number of occasions, most recently in November 2025.