Greater Grison

The greater grison is a slender, long-necked mustelid with short legs and a short, bushy tail. It is the larger of the two grisons and is best told apart from the lesser grison by its size (Wikipedia, general species account). The back, flanks, top of the head and tail are grizzled grey, while the rest of the body is much darker and usually solid black. A narrow whitish stripe runs from the forehead down the sides of the neck, separating the black face from the grey back. The head is flattened and broad, the ears short and rounded, and each of the five webbed toes ends in a sharp, curved claw (Wikipedia, general species account).

Greater grisons are mainly terrestrial but climb trees and swim well, and they are mostly diurnal. They live alone or in pairs, with home ranges of at least 4.2 km2, and at very low density they are seldom seen (Wikipedia, general species account). They sleep in hollow logs, under tree roots or in old burrows. While hunting they move in a zigzag, with short bounds and frequent stops to sniff the air, and when cautious they press close to the ground (Wikipedia, general species account). Litters of up to four are born from March to September. The young open their eyes after two weeks and reach adult size in about four months (Wikipedia, general species account).

Bolivia lies within the greater grison's range, which the Wikipedia account gives as far south as Bolivia (Wikipedia, general species account). On the east slopes of the Andes in Bolivia it ranges up to about 2,000m (Handbook of the Mammals of the World). The subspecies G. v. andina is found in Bolivia and Peru (Handbook of the Mammals of the World).