With only 2,000 maned wolves left in the wild, scientists are in a race against time to save them from the threat of extinction. Up until recently, the maned wolf had only been classified as a threatened species; however, in 1998, the IUCN placed them on their red list of endangered species. Since then, scientists have been working with the 90-100 wolves in captive breeding facilities to learn more about them so scientists can conserve their habitat, and educate the public about the role they play in their ecosystem.

Maned wolves are omnivorous animals, preying primarily on small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and occasionally fruit (when it is in season). As more of their habitat is taken up by farmers, the wolves have begun to add domestic chickens to their diet since these birds are easier for them to catch. Unfortunately, their interest in chickens as food has proved disastrous for the species survival as disgruntled farmers will shoot any wolves found on their property. Since the maned wolf has been labeled as endangered, international organizations have been working to curb the hunting and killing of these creatures by working with local governments on new hunting laws and also moving the wolves found on farmer's properties to a safer habitat.

One such habitat is the Emas National Park in Brazil. This park already has a thriving maned wolf population that was studied in 1997 by Stephanie Bestelmeyer, a graduate student from Colorado State University. Bestelmeyer spent a total of nine months studying the wolves activity cycles, habitat use, and behavior. Her study is one of the few done on maned wolves in the wild.

Most of the data collected on maned wolves comes from information gathered from the captive population. Scientists have learned they generally spend their lives alone and only meet up with others during the breeding season (June-September). The maned wolf is also a monogamus animal, staying with one mate for its entire lifetime (12-15 years in captivity). The gestation period observed for the wolf is about 62-66 days after which two to five pups are born. The mother wolf will wean the pups for about 15 weeks and the young will set out on their own after about a years time.

After observing the wild and captive populations, scientists have identified three main threats to the wolf's survival—habitat loss, hunting, and disease. The IUCN has created a plan to ensure the wolf's survival which includes: management related issues (concerning the captive population), long term studies on reproductive behavior, medicinal and nutritional management of diseases, description of physiological and behavioral development of pups also with a protocol for hand rearing. Also, in 1995, the IUCN published a husbandry handbook for the maned wolves so that genetic diversity can be kept in the captive population.

Currently, scientists are striving to educate the locals in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia about the maned wolf and its habits. Efforts are also being made to reduce the amount of their habitat used for agricultural purposes. Unfortunately educating the locals and setting up nature reserves for the wolves is a time consuming process, so the work with the captive breeding centers is integral to the survival of the species. The goal of conservationists is to create a self sustaining captive population, protect the current habitat of the maned wolf and to outlaw hunting of this species. Hopefully with cooperation with the international governments involved, this species can be saved.