South American Coati – Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio

Habits and Lifestyle

South American coatis are diurnal animals, and they live both on the ground and in trees. They typically sleep in the trees. When foraging, they search for fruit in trees high in the canopy and use their snouts to poke through crevices to find animal prey on the ground. They also search for animal prey by turning over rocks on the ground or ripping open logs with their claws. Females typically live in large groups, called bands, consisting of 15 to 30 animals. Males, however, are usually solitary. Solitary males were originally considered a separate species due to the different social habits and were called “coatimundis”, a term still sometimes used today. Neither bands of females nor solitary males defend a unique territory, and territories therefore overlap. South American coatis communicate with the help of soft whining sounds and alarm calls that sound as loud woofs and clicks. When an alarm call is sounded, coatis typically climb trees, and then drop down to the ground and disperse.