Coati guide: what they are, where they live, what they eat and coati social groups

What are coatis and how many species exist?

Coatis are medium-sized carnivores from the Procyonidae family – the same family as raccoons. There are four species of Coati, all endemic to the Americas: the ring- tailed (or South American) coati; the white-nosed coati; the eastern mountain coati and the western mountain coati. The eastern mountain coati is extremely rare and is an Endangered species.

What habitats do coati prefer?

Coati like to live in forests best – from rainforest to deciduous dry forest – but they can also survive in grasslands and wetlands. They also occur in urban areas and on disturbed ground.

What do coati eat?

In the wild, coatis are omnivorous and eat almost everything they find, from fruit to frogs. They use their long, malleable snouts to sniff out and catch prey under the leaves, in tree bark or underground. They can also be opportunistic - the ring-tailed coatis in Brazil, for instance, are known to raid picnics and rubbish bins, feeding on human junk food. Coatis are usually diurnal, unlike their raccoon relatives.

How are their social groups constructed?

Coatis are social animals and may form large groups with more than 30 individuals, generally composed of females, cubs and a single dominant male. Peripheral males will try and breed with the females opportunistically, but are usually solitary.

When do coatis breed?

In the dry season (June to August), coatis build nests from leaves and sticks in the trees. In the breeding season, males fight for the females. Pups are born a few months after mating at the start of the rainy season, when there is high food availability.

Main image: white-nosed coati © Kryssia Campos/Getty