Argentina prepares to return rescued maned wolves to the wild

Conservationists in Argentina are preparing to return two maned wolves named Sun and Moon to the wild in July, after raising the male and female siblings since their mother died. The pair has been cared for by the Temaiken Foundation since September, and the plan is to release them in Ibera National Park in northern Corrientes Province, where they were born.

The animals were being readied with routine health checks at the Temaiken Foundation facility in Escobar, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, on June 23. Their eventual transfer back to the Ibera wetlands will mark a delicate step in a species recovery effort that depends on more than a single rescue: it requires the right habitat, careful handling, and enough time for a young animal to lose its dependence on humans before release.

The maned wolf, known locally as the aguara guazu, is endangered in Argentina. It is the fourth largest canid and is technically neither a true wolf nor a fox, a distinction that matters because its survival depends on open grasslands and wetlands rather than the forested environments people often associate with wild canines. A scientific update on the species’ range in Argentina recorded 1,051 new occurrence records from 2009 to 2021 and estimated the species’ area of occupancy in the country at about 500,000 square kilometers.

Ibera National Park has already shown it can support the species. Rewilding Argentina has recorded maned wolf reproduction there, including the birth of three pups in 2021, a sign that the restored wetland can sustain breeding animals if pressures remain manageable. The broader Great Ibera Park system totals 758,000 hectares, including 158,000 hectares of national park and 600,000 hectares of provincial park, giving the region the scale needed for long-term conservation work.

The release also fits into a regional conservation picture that goes well beyond Argentina. WWF lists Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru as range states for the maned wolf, and the IUCN Red List classifies the species globally as Near Threatened. In Brazil, where most of the estimated population lives, the species remains far more common than elsewhere, but the South American range is fragmented enough that every successful release in Argentina carries added weight.