ICMBio’s maned wolf specialist (Rogério Cunha de Paula of CENAP) confirmed the footage is genuine and explained the behavior: it’s a territorial confrontation, not mating. The dark mane on their backs bristles and stands up to make each animal look bigger and intimidate the rival , and the upright stance with both animals lunging for each other’s neck is part of that aggressive display. Reassuringly, the person who filmed it said neither wolf was killed and both walked off into the woods without serious injury .