Coati

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COMMON NAME: Coati

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Nasua nasua

DESCRIPTION:

Coati is a medium sized mammal with a grizzled-brown color; his semi-prehensile tail is long with indistinct bands.  He has a long pointed snout and a flexible nose with a tough nose pad.  He has white spots above and below his eyes.  His ears are small.  He has 5 toes on each foot and walks flat-footed (plantigrade).  Males are larger than females.  Body length is 20” – 25”; tail is 16” – 27” long; weight is 16# - 27#.

LIFE HISTORY:

Coati is more diurnal and social than his relatives, raccoon and ringtail.  Coati may live in troupes of 4 – 25 members.  He spends his day foraging for food and in mutual grooming.  His tail is carried high while walking, is used it for balance when climbing and grasps branches or vines when descending a tree. 

Life Span: is recorded to be 7 years in the wild and 15 years in captivity.

Reproduction: Mating may occur January – March.  Gestation is 77 days.  Four – 6 young are born in a maternity den.

ECOLOGY:

Habitat: Coati lives in mountain forests or occasionally in rocky wooded canyons and usually near water.  Coati occasionally enters the Imperial Valley in southeastern California.

Diet: Coati is an omnivore.  His cheek teeth are blunt, not sharp, which is an adaptation to a varied diet.  He eats invertebrates (including scorpions and tarantulas), lizards, fruit, berries, nuts, and bird and reptile eggs.  He uses his nose to root through leaf litter or in the ground for grubs and tubers.  He will pull apart rotting logs to eat the insects inside.

Ecosystem: Coati may occasionally cross the borders of Mexico and Arizona into southern California; his range includes southeast Arizona, southwest New Mexico and south Texas in the United States.  He has moved north from the forests in South and Central America.


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