Some time in the 1980s, the priests began putting out meat for the local Maned Wolves, apparently to keep them from raiding garbage cans. Over time they moved the feeding tray up the steps and finally on to the patio, and now it is an almost nightly occurrence that one or sometimes two Maned Wolves come in to eat, oblivious to the crowds of tourists snapping flash photos a few feet away. It doesn't just slink in either, it comes in with a presence that hushes the crowd. It's a solitary species, not a pack-forming wolf, which is why there's not a whole pack. Apparently the pups sometimes come along though.
The wolf made several trips back and forth. It would regularly stop and stare intently back the way it had come, as if there was another wolf out there. But we never saw more than one at a time, presumably always the same one. On some trips, it carried food away, as if to feed pups perhaps.
To me, the photos don't fully capture just how big this wolf was. Helped in part by its very long legs, it was way bigger than any dog I have ever seen, except perhaps a Great Dane.
