Range Description

The Hoary Fox is confined to Brazil, associated with the cerrado habitats (mosaic of grasslands and xerophytic vegetation) of the central Brazilian plateau, and peripheral transitional zones including dry open habitats of the Pantanal (Mato Grosso state). Confirmed in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and Goiás (J. Dalponte unpubl.), southern and western Bahia (Juarez and Marinho-Filho 2002; J. Dalponte, pers. obs.), and western Piauí in Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara (F. Olmos pers. comm.). Capture records of an extant specimen held in Teresina Zoological Park indicate its northerly geographical limit is probably in north Piauí (Costa and Courtenay 2003). A previous report of its occurrence in Ceará (north-east Brazil) (Deane 1956) was contested by Courtenay et al. (1996). Records along the Brazil-Bolivian border in Mato Grosso (Anderson 1997) are unsubstantiated; the nearest record is 70 km to the south in the Pantanal (Mato Grosso do Sul) (J. Dalponte unpubl.).