Fishing behaviour and novel geographic records of Speothos venaticus (Carnivora: Canidae) in the department of Madre de Dios, Peru.

The bush dog (Speothos venaticus) is a rare and elusive canid with a patchy distribution across the Amazon rainforest and other Neotropical biomes. Known for its social behavior and unique adaptations for cooperative hunting, the species is closely associated with dense understory vegetation and aquatic habitats. This study documents novel geographic records and a behavioral observation of S. venaticus in the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru, a poorly understood part of their range. We report a direct observation of a family group exhibiting foraging behavior in a riparian habitat, with an adult individual actively fishing in a small tributary of the Las Piedras River while juveniles observed. Additional records from four tributaries of the Madre de Dios watershed further underscores the species’ association with riverine systems within primary lowland rainforests.