Overview
- Researchers compiled 34 intensive camera‑trap surveys over more than 25 years to produce the largest photographic record for the species, with 594 confirmed images.
- Camera‑trap analyses estimate about 15 short‑eared dogs per 100 square kilometers in surveyed upland forest areas, a higher local density than prior assumptions.
- Photographs reveal distinctive features — large head, small rounded ears, short legs, long bushy tail and partially webbed paws — and show peak activity in daylight hours from roughly 6 a.m. to noon.
- The short‑eared dog is a true upland forest specialist that is more often recorded inside national protected areas and overlapping Indigenous territories than in unprotected zones.
- Authors recommend prioritizing protection of the forest canopy, effective management of protected areas, and sustainable Indigenous land stewardship because maintaining intact upland forest is central to the species’ persistence.