A climbing mustelid with a dark body and a lighter-colored head.
Color varies across its range. The body is generally dark brown to blackish, while the head is lighter; the throat patch can be orange or cream, varies in shape and size, and may be absent.
Camera traps in Rio Doce State Park, Brazil, were used to study tayra habitat use and activity. Across 6,480 trap nights, the cameras produced 15,099 videos of medium and large mammals; tayras were independently recorded 112 times at 22 of 54 stations. Distance to the nearest pasture was the only examined factor associated with occupancy: tayras were more likely farther from pastures.
Tayras were mainly active by day in both seasons, with 91.5% of activity records between sunrise and sunset and a peak around 10:00. Their activity patterns did not differ between dry and rainy seasons. Activity overlapped with pumas and, to a lesser extent, jaguars, while overlap with ocelots was lower. The model estimated overall park occupancy at 0.63.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The authors describe Rio Doce State Park as a refuge for tayra survival and reproduction. They also call for camera-trap methods suited to detecting climbing mid-sized carnivores.