Facts About Coati

Coati is one of the New World mammals and belongs to the carnivore family known as Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons, kinkajous, olingos, ringtails, and cacomistles. Coati is known by different names - Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejon, hog-nosed coon, pisote, and snookum bear. Though it is related to raccoon, it can be easily distinguished from the latter with a longer and more pointed muzzle and a longer tail as well. Besides this, coati has bear-like paws that are non-retractable and the animal can even walk on the soles of its feet. The mammal is diurnal i.e.; it is active during the day and sleeps at night. Though it is not endangered as yet, it surely faces unregulated hunting and a serious threat of environmental destruction in Central and South America. Moreover, there is no scientifically sound population study of the mammal, which makes it difficult to know the other problems faced by the species. Read on to know all the interesting facts and amazing information about coatis.

Facts About Coati

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Procyonidae

Subfamily: Procyoninae

Genus: Nasua and Nasuella

Species: Nasua nasua, Nasua narica, Nasua nelsoni and Nasuella olivacea

Height: 30 cm (12 inches)

Weight: 3- 8 kg

Lifespan: 7- 8 years

Diet: Insects, fruit, and occasionally mice, lizards, and frogs

Range: Arizona, New Mexico, Central America, the Amazon rainforest, Argentina, and Uruguay

Habitat: Woodlands, desert grasslands, forests

Age of Sexual Maturity: 2 years- female/ 3 years- male

Gestation Period: 11 weeks

Number of Offspring: 3- 7

Interesting & Amazing Information On Coatis

Coati is a neo-tropical mammal that resides in the North, Central and South America, at an elevation of 3500 meters above the sea level.
The mammal has a slim body, with dark feet, flexible snout, slender head, upward-turning nose, small ears and long tail, which helps it in balancing and signaling during movements.
Coati possesses brown, black or rust colored coat, with white nose, white ringed tail and white spots above and below each eye.
The female coati is a sociable animal that lives in groups called bands, with 4 to 30, sometimes even more, members. The females are often related to each other. The male coatis join the group only during the mating season.
The mating season of the animal starts from January and ends in March, during which the males compete with each other for a group of females,by leaving scents of urine and musk.
A female coati leaves the band to give birth in a tree nest and tree trunk cavities and then rejoins it later, with the young ones.
Coatis rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy.
A male coati does very little for its young ones. The young coatis are solely brought up by the mother. A male coati leaves the band once it is two years old.
If coatis are provoked or they sense danger, they become fierce fighters and start using their sharp canine teeth, strong jaws, and fast scratching paws, making it almost impossible for predators to grab the small mammals.
A coati communicates through sounds of chirping, snorting, or grunting, to display its intention or moods.

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