Culpeo
Lycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782)
The culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), also called the Andean fox, Yaghan dog or Fuegian dog, is a mammal of the family Canidae in the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore with an adult body mass of 8.6 kg and values up to 13 kg.
Quick facts about the culpeo
Gestation lasts 61 days (up to 62 days), females have 1 litter per year of 4 young, and sexual maturity comes at 1 year. Its lifespan is 13.1 years, and the IUCN Red List classes it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 8.62 kg – 13 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 60.6 days – 62 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the culpeo
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
,_Laguna_Colorada,_Bolivia,_2016-02-02,_DD_101.JPG){kind=link}
Where does the culpeo live?
Not recorded
What is the culpeo?
The culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), also known as Culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf, and colpeo fox, is a species of South American fox. Despite the name, it is not in the Vulpes, but more closely related to wolves and jackals. Its appearance resembles that of foxes due to convergent evolution.
The culpeo's diet consists largely of rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, and to a lesser extent, plant material and carrion. They may prey on Andean flamingos and baby vicuña. The culpeo sometimes attacks farm animals, among them sheep, goats and poultry; for this, it is hunted in rural Chile and Argentina. In some regions, it has become rare, but overall the species is not threatened with extinction.
The culpeo was domesticated by the Selkʼnam people of Tierra del Fuego, producing the Fuegian dog which became extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century.
From the Wikipedia article “Culpeo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culpeo&oldid=1382376615), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the culpeo endangered?
The culpeo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the culpeo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyCanidae
- genusLycalopex
- SpeciesLycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782)
Synonyms Canis culpaeus, Dusicyon culpaeus, Pseudalopex culpaeus
Other names and names in other languages (42)
- Andean foxEnglish
- Andean foxEnglish
- Fuegian dogEnglish
- Yaghan dogEnglish
- AndesvosAfrikaans
- كلب الياغانArabic
- ثعلب الأنديزArabic
- كلب الفوجيونArabic
- KulpewMapuche
- КульпеаBelarusian
- pes horskýCzech
- AndesrævDanish
- AndenfuchsGerman
- AndenschakalGerman
- CulpeofuchsGerman
- FeuerlandfuchsGerman
- MagellanfuchsGerman
- Patagonischer FuchsGerman
- Αλεπού των ΆνδεωνGreek
- Kulpea lupovulpoEsperanto
- LoboSpanish
- Lobo AndinoSpanish
- lobo de páramoSpanish
- Zorro AndinoSpanish
- Zorro ColoradoSpanish
- Zorro CulpeoSpanish
- isoandienkettuFinnish
- CulpeauFrench
- Renard de MagellanFrench
- culpeo pamparókaHungarian
- LareItalian
- クルペオギツネ (Kurupeo-gitsune)Japanese
- クルペオギツネJapanese
- 쿨페오Korean
- 안데스여우Korean
- AndesrevNorwegian Bokmål
- PatagoniarevNorwegian Bokmål
- nibylis andyjskiPolish
- Raposa-coloradaPortuguese
- AtugQuechua
- Андская лисицаRussian
- And tilkisiTurkish
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the culpeo
Other species in the same genus Lycalopex.
Pampas fox
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Hoary fox
Lycalopex vetulus
Darwin's fox
Lycalopex fulvipes
South American gray fox
Lycalopex griseus
Sechuran fox
Lycalopex sechurae
CompareCulpeo vs Pampas foxCulpeo vs Hoary foxCulpeo vs Darwin's foxCulpeo vs South American gray fox
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a culpeo?
The culpeo is a mammal of the family Canidae, in the order Carnivora. It is also called the Andean fox, Yaghan dog or Fuegian dog.
How heavy is a culpeo?
An adult culpeo has a body mass of 8.6 kg, with values up to 13 kg reported. It falls in the medium size class.
What does the culpeo eat?
The culpeo is a carnivore. It is nocturnal and terrestrial.
Is the culpeo endangered?
No. The culpeo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a culpeo live?
The culpeo has a lifespan of 13.1 years.
How many young does a culpeo have?
A culpeo has 4 young per litter and 1 litter per year, after a gestation of 61 days (up to 62 days).
Who named the culpeo?
The culpeo, Lycalopex culpaeus, was named by (Molina, 1782).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/culpeo
“Culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/culpeo.
@misc{culpeo_2026,
title = {Culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/culpeo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}