The relationships between the maned wolf and people

The maned wolf is a large carnivore, the largest one in South America. Although it was described as a wolf by early agents of the Portuguese crown, it is monophyletic and therefore difficult to mistake with any other species. The fact that the maned wolf is unique and distinctive is important if its image is to represent the Cerrado biome and all of its dwindling biodiversity. Do people’s relationships with the maned wolf make it charismatic and likable enough to earn the badge of flagship species for the Cerrado conservation?

The validity of the one species approach to conservation has been questioned in favour of a focus on ecosystems. However the single species has its merits when the species in question “plays the role of keystone or umbrella species…” (Boitani et al. 2004:158; McNeely 2000; Gittleman et al. 2001; Sergio et al. 2006). The maned wolf is, arguably, a charismatic carnivore with a wide home range, qualifying it to fit both roles. Between 2005 and 2008 I conducted a field study on local people’s attitudes towards the maned wolf in the state of São Paulo that helped to bring an answer to this question. The objectives of my study were to shed some light into associations between the way local people perceive the maned wolf and its decline, and to enable a comparison between such associations in urban and rural areas. The study aimed to improve the understanding of people’s relationships with the maned wolf to help the planning of conservation strategies for the species.

In this chapter I review and discuss key issues that are instrumental to the panorama of local people’s attitudes towards the maned wolf in the southeast of Brazil, referring to data from my research as evidence.