Coatis and Raccoons in Manuel Antonio
Coatis and raccoons are cousins in the raccoon family, and SINAC lists both among the outstanding animals of Manuel Antonio National Park. The white-nosed coati forages on the forest floor by day; raccoons come out mostly at night, often near water and beaches. Both are clever, both learn quickly where people leave food, and that is exactly why they should never be fed.
Which species live here
Travel Guide › Wildlife › Coatis and raccoons
- White-nosed coati (Nasua narica), called pizote in Costa Rica.
- Northern raccoon (Procyon lotor), mapache. The park’s management plan names it among the more common mammals in the park.
- Crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), also mapache. It appears in the park’s mammal list too.
All three belong to the family Procyonidae, as does the kinkajou (Potos flavus, martilla), which the management plan says is seen less often in the park.
Coati or raccoon? A quick check
- Time of day: a ringed-tail animal walking around in daylight is most likely a coati. Raccoons are mainly nocturnal.
- Snout: the coati’s is long, pointed and flexible. The raccoon’s is shorter.
- Face: raccoons have a black “bandit” mask. Coatis have white marks on the snout, above and below the eyes and on the cheeks.
- Tail: both are ringed, but a coati’s tail is very long and often held straight up as it walks.
Coati, northern raccoon or crab-eating raccoon?
Three members of the raccoon family are recorded in Manuel Antonio National Park. This table puts them side by side so you can name the ringed tail you just saw.
| White-nosed coati | Northern raccoon | Crab-eating raccoon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local name | Pizote | Mapache | Mapache |
| Scientific name | Nasua narica | Procyon lotor | Procyon cancrivorus |
| When you see it | By day | Mostly at night | At night |
| Size | 80 to 130 cm long, over half of it tail | Larger and heavier; 1.8 to 10.4 kg across its range | Smaller, about 3 to 7 kg; looks slimmer |
| Face | Long, flexible snout; white marks on snout, around eyes and cheeks | Black “bandit” mask reaching almost to the ears | Mask fades out behind the eyes |
| Coat | Grayish brown, silvery on the arms | Grizzled gray | Even brown on the back, neck fur slants forward |
| Tail | Very long, ringed, often held straight up | Ringed, bushy | Ringed |
| Social life | Females and young in bands of 4 to 20; adult males alone | Usually alone, mothers with young | Solitary |
| Favorite places | Forest floor and trail edges | Forest, streams, beaches | Near water: mangroves, lagoons, beaches |
| Litter | 2 to 7, born in a tree nest | 3 to 7, usually 4 | 2 to 7, usually 3 or 4 |
| IUCN Red List | Least Concern | Least Concern | Least Concern |
Measurements and breeding figures from Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan); species presence from the park’s management plan (SINAC); status from the IUCN Red List.
White-nosed coati
Identification
A long-bodied animal of 80 to 130 cm, more than half of it tail. The coat is grayish brown with silvery grizzling on the arms. The snout is long, pointed and flexible, with a white band near the end, and there are white spots above and below each eye and on each cheek. The long tail has black rings and is held upright when walking. The front feet have curved claws for digging (Animal Diversity Web).
Habitat and behavior
Coatis live in many habitats, from tropical lowlands to high dry forest. They are mostly active by day, foraging on the ground, and they sleep in the treetops at night, safer from predators. Adult males live alone. Females and young males up to about two years old travel in bands of 4 to 20, groom one another and look after each other’s young. A band’s home range is roughly a kilometer across, and coatis may walk up to 2 km a day looking for food (Animal Diversity Web).
Diet
Mostly insects and other small animals. Coatis keep their snouts close to the ground and sniff out beetles, spiders, scorpions, ants, termites, grubs, centipedes and even land crabs. They eat fruit when it is plentiful and sometimes catch mice, lizards or frogs.
Ecological role
By turning over leaf litter and eating large numbers of insects and other invertebrates, coatis are one of the forest floor’s busiest predators. In turn they are food for wild cats, boas and large birds of prey.
Conservation status
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessed 2016).
Coati family life: the band and the pizote solo
Watch a coati band cross a trail and you are seeing one of the most sociable families in the forest. Spot a single big coati on its own and you have probably met a pizote solo, the name Costa Ricans give to a lone adult male.
Life in the band
Coati bands are made up of adult females and their young, including young males up to about two years old. They forage side by side, groom one another and help look after each other’s young (Animal Diversity Web). A band’s home range is about a kilometer across, and its edges overlap with the ranges of neighboring bands. With tails held high as they move through the undergrowth, a band can look like a small parade of question marks.
Why males go solo
Once they reach adulthood, males leave the band and live alone. They mark their ranges with urine and will fight if they meet another male. They are larger than the females, and while coatis are active mainly by day, males are sometimes out at night as well (Animal Diversity Web).
Courtship and babies
In February or March, the most dominant male in a band’s area is allowed to join it. He mates with the females and is then driven away again. A few weeks before giving birth, each female leaves the band and builds a nest in a tree, where she has between two and seven young, each weighing just 100 to 180 g. Their eyes open at about 11 days and they are weaned at around four months. Young coatis reach adult size by about 15 months; females can breed at two years and males at three. In the wild, a coati may live up to 14 years (Animal Diversity Web).
Agile climbers
For an animal so at home on the ground, coatis are excellent climbers. They sleep and give birth up in the trees, safer from predators such as wild cats, boas and large birds of prey, so it is worth looking up as well as down.
Coatis are regular visitors to the forest around ECOTICA, and a band may well wander past your bungalow porch. If you would like a naturalist to show you their tracks and favorite foraging spots, book a guided walk with our concierge.
Northern and crab-eating raccoons
Identification
Animal Diversity Web gives a clear way to separate the two raccoons:
- Crab-eating raccoon: smaller, about 3 to 7 kg and 54 to 65 cm long plus the tail. It looks thinner because it lacks the dense underfur of its northern cousin. The fur on the back is a fairly even brown, the fur on the neck slants forward toward the head, and the black mask fades out behind the eyes.
- Northern raccoon: larger and heavier, with a grizzled coat and a mask that reaches almost to the ears.
Habitat and behavior
Both raccoons use a variety of habitats, including primary and regrowing forest. The crab-eating raccoon keeps closer to water: swamps, lagoons and ocean beaches. Raccoons are nocturnal, see well in the dark and have a remarkable sense of touch in their hands, which they use to handle and “wash” food. Animal Diversity Web notes they learn quickly and can remember what they have learned for up to a year.
Diet
Omnivores. The crab-eating raccoon eats a lot of fruit, plus crabs and other crustaceans, insects and other invertebrates, fish, frogs and small turtles, changing its diet with the season.
Ecological role
As predators of crabs, insects and small animals, and as prey for larger predators, raccoons are one of the links between the forest, the mangroves and the shore.
Conservation status
- Northern raccoon: Least Concern (IUCN, assessed 2016).
- Crab-eating raccoon: Least Concern (IUCN, assessed 2016).
How raccoons live: dens, kits and clever hands
Raccoons are the night shift of Manuel Antonio’s raccoon family. While coatis sleep in the treetops, raccoons are out exploring streams, mangrove edges and the line where forest meets sand.
The “washer”
The northern raccoon’s scientific name, Procyon lotor, comes from the Latin for “the washer”, after its habit of handling food with its front paws before eating it. Those hand-like forepaws are especially sensitive and are used both for finding prey and for climbing (Animal Diversity Web). Watching a raccoon feel its way along a stream bank, hunting by touch, is one of the quiet pleasures of a night walk.
Seeing in the dark
The crab-eating raccoon is color blind but has excellent night vision, according to Animal Diversity Web. It lives mostly alone and is fond of fruit, though it also takes crabs and other crustaceans, insects, fish, frogs and small turtles, which suits life in mangroves and along beaches.
Dens and young
- Northern raccoon: pregnancy lasts 63 to 65 days and a litter has three to seven young, usually four. They are born blind and helpless in a tree den, open their eyes at 18 to 24 days and are weaned at around 70 days. Wild raccoons can live up to 16 years, though most are much younger (Animal Diversity Web).
- Crab-eating raccoon: pregnancy is roughly 60 to 73 days, with two to seven young, typically three or four, born in rock crevices, hollow trees or dens left by other animals (Animal Diversity Web).
Where to meet them
Because the national park closes in the afternoon, a guided night walk outside the park is the best way to see raccoons going about their natural business. A good guide will also show you sleeping birds, frogs, insects and perhaps a kinkajou. Planning ahead? Book a night walk through our concierge, and read our guide to frogs, butterflies and the night forest before you go.
The kinkajou: the raccoon family's acrobat
The kinkajou (Potos flavus), called martilla in Costa Rica, is the most elusive member of the family here; the park’s management plan notes it is seen less often than its cousins. Spotting one on a night walk is a real treat.
- A creature of the night canopy. Kinkajous are strictly nocturnal and live in the trees (Animal Diversity Web). Your guide’s flashlight may pick up their eyeshine high in a fruiting tree.
- A tail like a fifth hand. Unlike coatis and raccoons, the kinkajou has a long, fully prehensile tail, which lets it hang upside down while it feeds.
- A taste for figs and nectar. Kinkajous eat mainly fruit, and figs can make up as much as half their diet. A long, extendable tongue helps them lap nectar, so they may pollinate flowers as they feed.
- Gardeners of the forest. In studies, seeds that had passed through a kinkajou germinated faster than untreated seeds, which makes them valuable seed dispersers.
- More social than once thought. Typical groups include two males, a single female and her young. Adults weigh 2 to 4.6 kg (Animal Diversity Web), and the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
Kinkajous are quiet and shy, so the best chance of seeing one is with an experienced guide who knows which trees are fruiting. Our concierge can arrange a night walk on any evening of your stay, and afterwards a late dinner at YOLO Social, with live music every night, rounds things off nicely.
What happens when coatis and raccoons get fed
Manuel Antonio has studied this problem for decades. The national park’s management plan cites research from the early 1990s by Carrillo and Vaughan on behavioral changes in raccoons caused by tourist visitation, and warns that capuchins, raccoons and coatis were changing their activity patterns and feeding habits because of contact with visitors. A later study summarized in the plan listed raccoons among the animals involved in conflicts with visitors along the Perezoso trail and on Playa Manuel Antonio.
SINAC’s rules are clear: feeding wild animals is prohibited, food and drinks are not allowed into the park except under the park administration’s exceptions, and food from the concession must be eaten in the designated area. SINAC also asks visitors not to leave food where animals can reach it, and notes that certain foods can seriously affect animals’ health and behavior.
A raccoon or coati that expects food from people gets bolder: it opens bags, tears into trash and hangs around beaches and restaurants. That is bad for the animal and a nuisance for everyone else.
How to share the trail with them
- Never feed them, not even scraps, and don’t leave food or trash where they can reach it.
- Keep bags closed and with you on the beach. Use the park’s lockers for anything you won’t carry (see our national park guide).
- Give them room. If a coati band comes along the trail, step aside and let it pass. Don’t corner an animal or block its path.
- Don’t touch them. SINAC asks visitors not to touch wild animals. Even a calm-looking coati has sharp, curved claws.
- At night, keep your light low and brief, and off the animal’s eyes.
Keeping your picnic and beach bag your own
The beaches of Manuel Antonio are where people and clever wildlife meet most often. Coatis, raccoons and white-faced capuchins have all learned that a bag on the sand can hold something tasty. With a little planning, your beach day stays relaxed and the animals stay wild.
Before you go
- Pack light. Inside the national park, food and drinks are allowed only under the park administration’s exceptions (SINAC), so check our national park guide and plan to eat before or after your visit.
- Choose closable bags. A backpack with zips is far better than an open tote. Raccoons have sensitive, nimble hands, and a loose flap is an invitation.
- Seal anything edible. Hard, lidded containers inside a closed bag keep smells in and curious noses out.
On the sand
- Swim in shifts. If you are in a group, let one person stay with the bags while the others swim.
- Keep bags close and closed. Hanging a bag on a branch only moves it closer to the climbers.
- Eat with your back to the sea, not the forest. Wildlife comes out of the trees, so sit where you can see what is approaching, and put food away if an animal heads your way.
- Take every scrap home. Fruit peels, wrappers and crumbs teach animals to come back. Leave the beach exactly as you found it.
- If an animal grabs something, let it go. Coatis have sharp, curved claws and capuchins have strong teeth. Step back, and tell a park ranger if needed.
Then save your appetite for later: La POZA at ECOTICA serves poolside from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., with happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m., a lovely way to finish a sunny morning. For more beach ideas, see our guide to the beaches of Manuel Antonio.
Where visitors may encounter them
Sightings are never certain. These are the settings where each animal is most likely to turn up.
- Coatis: on the forest floor and along trail edges in daylight, often in a moving band with tails up. Manuel Antonio National Park is a good place to watch for them; check opening days and rules in our national park guide.
- Raccoons: around dusk and after dark, near streams, mangroves and beaches. The park itself closes in the afternoon (per SINAC), so most raccoon activity happens after visitors have left. Raccoons can also turn up by day where they have learned to expect food: the park study mentioned above recorded them in conflicts with visitors on Playa Manuel Antonio.
- With a guide: a naturalist guide will know where coati bands have been foraging. ECOTICA‘s concierge can book a guided park walk through our wildlife and nature tours.
More wildlife guides: wildlife in Manuel Antonio, monkeys and reptiles and iguanas. Families might also like our family-friendly activities.
Coatis and friends on ECOTICA's own rainforest
You do not always need a trail to meet the ground-dwellers of Manuel Antonio. ECOTICA Boutique Hotel & Spa sits on its own 10-acre private rainforest reserve in the heart of Manuel Antonio, a few minutes from the national park and the beaches, and the forest floor there is busy.
- Coatis often come through in bands, noses down and tails up, turning over leaves in search of insects. Watching from your porch, you can enjoy their parade without disturbing it.
- Agoutis, the forest’s tidy, long-legged rodents, trot along the edges of the gardens.
- Deer sometimes step out of the trees in the quiet hours.
- Overhead, the same forest is home to all three monkey species, both kinds of sloths, toucans and a pair of scarlet macaws that nest in our royal palms.
None of these visits are scheduled, which is what makes them so memorable. Guests are asked to do what we ask everywhere in Manuel Antonio: enjoy the animals from a respectful distance, keep food inside, and let them find their own natural meals.
When you are ready for more, our concierge can book the national park with a naturalist guide, a night walk for raccoons and kinkajous, boat trips and plenty more. Book your tours ahead of time, send us any special requests, or simply check dates and rates for a bungalow or suite.
Coatis and raccoons: questions and answers
What is the difference between a coati and a raccoon?
A coati has a long, flexible snout, a very long ringed tail often held straight up, and is active by day. A raccoon has a black bandit mask, a shorter snout and comes out mostly at night.
Which raccoons live in Manuel Antonio?
Both the northern raccoon (Procyon lotor) and the crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) appear in the national park’s mammal list (SINAC). The crab-eating raccoon keeps close to water such as mangroves and beaches.
What is a pizote solo?
It is the Costa Rican name for a lone adult male coati. Males leave the band when they reach adulthood and live alone, joining a band only briefly in the mating season (Animal Diversity Web).
Are coatis dangerous?
Coatis are not interested in people, only in food. Give them space, keep food out of reach and never touch them, since they have sharp, curved claws.
How do I keep coatis and raccoons out of my beach bag?
Use a bag that zips, seal food in hard containers, keep the bag beside you and swim in turns if you are in a group. Take every scrap of trash home with you.
When are baby coatis born?
Mating happens in February or March, and females then leave the band to give birth in a tree nest to two to seven young (Animal Diversity Web). Young coatis are weaned at about four months.
Where is the best place to see raccoons?
Raccoons are mostly nocturnal, so a guided night walk is your best chance. Our concierge can book one for you.
Can I see coatis at ECOTICA?
Very often, yes. Coatis, agoutis and even deer visit ECOTICA’s 10-acre rainforest reserve, though wild animals keep no timetable. See what else lives around the hotel.
What is a kinkajou, and can I see one?
The kinkajou (martilla) is a nocturnal, tree-dwelling cousin of the raccoon with a prehensile tail and a love of figs and nectar. It is seen less often than coatis, so a night walk with an expert guide gives you the best chance.
Keep exploring
There is plenty more to meet in Manuel Antonio. Learn to tell the three monkeys apart, spend a slow morning with the sloths, and look for basking iguanas in our reptiles and iguanas guide. When the sun goes down, explore frogs, butterflies and the night forest, and for the big picture start with our wildlife overview and tips for responsible wildlife watching.
If a coati or raccoon looks hurt, or a youngster seems to be alone, read how to help and whom to contact before stepping in. Should a scrape or bite need attention, our health and safety guide lists the emergency numbers for people.
Arrive with everything ready
Share your dates and we will arrange the rest of your stay around your coati and raccoon sightings:
- Book a guided walk: a naturalist in Manuel Antonio National Park can help you spot coatis and raccoons foraging; boat trips, zip lines and rafting are on offer too
- Unwind at Jungle Spa: after the trails, a massage, couples treatment, facial or body ritual
- Travel straight from the airport: a private transfer from San José at US$195 each way for up to 5 people
- Message our concierge: a dinner in town, a celebration or any special arrangement you have in mind
- Stay with us at ECOTICA: check bungalow and suite availability for your wildlife-watching trip
Sources for our coati and raccoon guide
- SINAC – Manuel Antonio National Park (official English page for the park both animals call home)
- SINAC – Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (official Spanish page with visitor recommendations relevant to wildlife encounters)
- SINAC – Plan General de Manejo, Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio 2013–2018 (PDF; species records and visitor-impact notes behind our coati and raccoon facts)
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) – species profile of the white-nosed coati, Nasua narica
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) – species profile of the crab-eating raccoon, Procyon cancrivorus
Photos: josemiguel67bio jose miguel, Veronika Andrews, Koen Swiers, Jake Marsee, ByChelo / Pexels.
