Animal · Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
South American coati
Nasua nasua — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The South American coati is a slim, long-nosed relative of the raccoon that roams the forests of South America with its ringed tail held straight up. Females and young travel in noisy bands.
Picture credit: Richard Hatakeyama (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Andrew Magill (CC BY 2.0) · Chris Rom (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the South American coati live?
Home: Tropical forests and woodlands of South America.
In the wild it lives in these countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, Venezuela.
Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.
The short profile
Fully grown: about 45 cm long, plus a tail of the same length. It weighs about 4.5 kilograms. On the menu: both plants and meat.
The story behind it
A coati is built for two worlds. On the ground it pokes its bendy snout under leaves and into cracks, sniffing out beetles, spiders, worms and fallen fruit. In the trees it climbs head first up and down, using its long tail for balance, because its ankles can swivel right round. Females and their young live together in bands of fifteen to thirty animals that chirp and squeal almost constantly, and the raised tails help everyone keep the group in sight in tall grass. Grown males are loners and only join a band at breeding time. Coatis are common across much of South America and often turn up near picnic areas, where they are quick to help themselves.
Find it on the globe
South American coati is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
Why does a coati hold its tail straight up?
The raised, ringed tail works like a flag. In tall grass and thick undergrowth it lets every member of the band see where the others are, so a noisy group of thirty animals does not fall apart.
What does a coati eat?
Almost anything it can find. Most of its meal is insects, spiders and worms dug out of the leaf litter, plus fruit from the trees, and now and then a lizard, a frog or a bird's egg.
Are coatis related to raccoons?
Yes, closely. Both belong to the same family, and you can see it in the ringed tail and the clever front paws. The coati has a much longer, bendier snout and is active by day rather than at night.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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