A team of Brazilian researchers has identified, for the first time, a possible cross between a domestic dog and a pampas fox (or shrimp in Brazil). The discovery was reported in the scientific journal Animals and published in early August of this year.
It all started two years ago, when an animal was run over in the city of Vacaria, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). It was noticed that the female belonged to the canidae family (which includes wolves, foxes, dogs or coyotes), but the biologist who collected it, Herbert Hasse Junior, could not identify which species it belonged to: the four species of wild canids that exist in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (which limits with Uruguay to the south and Argentina to the west) present different characteristics to the animal found.
Even so, the biologist considered that it was a wild animal and sent the female to the Center for Conservation and Rehabilitation of Wild Animals (Reserves) of the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). (Also in Portugal, wild animals injured, weakened or found illegally in captivity are welcomed and rehabilitated in specific centers with a view to their possible reintegration into the wild; there are 11 identified on the website of the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests .)
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Source: Observadora
