Coati

This week my blog is about our mischievous group of Brown Nose Coatis or Coatimundi Nasua nasua.

Coati at Wingham Wildlife Park

Our group of coati at Wingham Wildlife Park
Brown nosed coati at WWP

Our group is made up of 3 females, Penelope, Honey and Ice and are found in a mixed enclosure with the Raccoons. Coatis are a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), usually easily recognisable by its reddish brown fur, long banded tail and dark elongated snout, however often they are referred to as Raccoons.

Also being referred to as the ring-tailed coati (though the rings on the tail may be quite weak and fur colouration may also vary due to there being many subspecies). The name ‘Coati’ comes from the native American words cua, meaning ‘belt’ and tim, meaning ‘nose’, referring to the way coatis tuck their nose into their belly while sleeping. Its scientific name, Nasua, comes from the Latin word for ‘nose’, referring to its long snout.

Brown nosed coati at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent
Penelope

The girls we have at the park are quite easy to tell apart, Ice is an albino, Penelope has a longer tail than Honey and she’s also slightly darker. When they are all together sometimes they can act like a bunch of naughty school kids. Simple tasks like cleaning the enclosure out can take a much longer than they should because of the naughty habits they’ve picked up.

I myself have been on the wrong end of these habits. One of the girls decided it was a good idea to steal my scrubber and take it to one of the highest points in the enclosure where she knew I couldn’t reach her. Pleading very nicely with her and trading a tasty snack she eventually gave it back to me, quite a clever plan she came up with!

Albino coati at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent

Some of you may also remember the male albino Coati we had at the park called Bron. Sadly, earlier on in 2019 he was put to sleep for welfare reasons that were compromising his quality of life but he was a very unique character to say the least. I would often catch him licking windows, don’t ask me why but he just did it. It would be fair to say he was couple sandwiches short of a picnic but he was much loved all the same by his keepers.

Invasive species

Coatis are now considered an invasive species. An invasive species can be any kind of living organism, an amphibian, plant, insect, fish, fungus or bacteria that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm. They can harm the environment, the economy, or even human health. Species that grow and reproduce quickly, and spread aggressively, with potential to cause harm, are given the label “invasive.”

When a new and aggressive species is introduced into an ecosystem, it may not have any natural predators or controls. It can breed and spread quickly, taking over an area and the native wildlife may not have evolved defences against the invader.

The direct threats of invasive species include preying on native species, outcompeting native species for food or other resources, causing or carrying disease, and preventing native species from reproducing. To stop this from happening in the United Kingdom measures have been put into place so we don’t face the similar problems to what’s being found elsewhere around the world. If Coatis were to escape from captive environments in the UK it could have catastrophic consequences which would result in lots of native species becoming extinct. 

Coati in the wild

Occupying forested habitats in South America, from Colombia and Venezuela in the north to Uruguay and northern Argentina in the south. Coatis are largely diurnal, spending much of their time foraging in trees and on the ground. At night time they sleep up in the trees curled into balls with their noses tucked into their bellies. Females live with their young in groups of up to 30 whereas males remain lone wanderers.

Albino coati at Wingham Wildlife Park, Kent

As opportunistic feeders they eat whatever is available to them depending on the season. This includes a variety of fruit and invertebrates like spiders, crabs and millipedes and also take a fancy to lizards, snakes, eggs and rodents. They play an important role in the forest by picking and eating fruit which helps to disperse seeds in their droppings so effectively planting new fruit trees.

The species is widespread and relatively common in areas of intact habitat, but populations are under threat from hunting and the destruction and fragmentation of forests in Central and South America. However, the level of threat and the decline in numbers is not well known as this species is relatively unstudied.

Albino brown nosed coati at Wingham Wildlife Park

If you want to get closer to these cheeky characters yourself check out our raccoon and coati experience here.

About Matt - Head of mammals