One of the least known but most striking marsupials of Iberá. Its dense reddish-brown or cinnamon coat contrasts with a paler belly and a diffuse dark mask on the face. Its long, strong, prehensile tail is bare along its final stretch and it uses it to balance with agility. Females lack a deep marsupial pouch and carry their young firmly attached to the teats on the belly. Total length: 60 to 75 cm (body 30-40 cm, tail of similar length). Weight: 1 to 2.5 kg.
Behaviour
Nocturnal, crepuscular and semiaquatic. An excellent swimmer that patrols the edges of lagoons, watercourses and dense reed beds. An opportunistic carnivore: it hunts small rodents, frogs, small snakes, fish at the shoreline, river crabs and large insects. By day it hides in abandoned burrows, hollow logs or the tangle of tall grasslands.
How and when to see it
Year round. Sightings are fleeting and concentrate at dusk or on night vehicle safaris, when its eyes shine at the level of the shoreline or the tracks. Portal Carambola and Portal Laguna Iberá (along the piers and boardwalks) have the most frequent records.
Where to see it in the Iberá
The gateways of the Great Iberá Park where lutrine opossum has confirmed presence:
Tours to see it
Verified providers operating at the gateways where lutrine opossum lives. You contact them directly on WhatsApp from the app.
- Esteros Ñe’é
Experiencias con relato local y mirada cultural sobre los esteros.★ 5 - Salvaje Iberá
Senderismo, cicloturismo, safari fotográfico, avistaje de fauna, paseos largos en el día…★ 5 - Gaucho Argentino
Travesías a caballo por una red de refugios en el Iberá. Cabalgatas de varios días con…★ 5 - Reserva Natural Don Luis
Reserva natural privada en Portal Cambyretá, gestionada por la Fundación Cambyretá…★ 5
Species profile
- Common nameLutrine Opossum
- Scientific nameLutreolina crassicaudata
- GroupMammal
- StatusNative
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