White Nosed Coati

General Information

White-nosed coatis are small mammals native to North, Central and South America, from Arizona to Argentina. They have strong claws and long, highly mobile snouts well-adapted for foraging in crevices and holes for food. Their thick, semi-prehensile tails are used for balance and are often held erect above the body. 

Coatis eat fruit, invertebrates, small rodents and lizards. They forage for food on the ground and occasionally in trees.

Male coati's younger than two years of age and females, both related and unrelated, will group together in bands of four to 20 individuals. Adult, male coatis are solitary animals, except during breeding season. Coatis have been called "coatimundi" or "coati-mondi" meaning "lone coati" in Guarani, a native language of Brazil. The name came about due to biologists describing solitary male coatis that they believed to be a separate species at the time.