Diet of the coati Nasua nasua (Carnivora: Procyonidae) in an area of woodland inserted in an urban environment in Brazil

Abstract

Coatis are omnivores whose diet consists of small vertebrates, invertebrates, and fruit. In urban areas, they may ingest food waste that has been discarded in deposits near their habitat, or they may consume food offered by humans. The present work investigates the diet of coatis through analysis of 56 fecal samples collected from Morro Imperador, a fragment of woodland inserted into an urban center in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The results point to a diet with niche breadth of 0.4 in which the percentage of occurrence of insects (34.9 %) and fruit (19.9 %) comprise the main dietary items. The presence of food due to human action (direct or indirect) is also constant throughout the year (14.1 %), thereby demonstrating the ability of these animals to adapt to modified environments.