Tayra
Eira barbara 
Makushi name: Araiwa 
Creole name: Haka 
Size: body=75 cm; tail=40 cm; weight=4 kg 
Description: Large, long-legged weasel-like animal with a long bushy tail. Body usually blackish with a pale yellow or grey-brown head and neck; sometimes fur entirely straw-yellow (this race is found only in Guyana, intermixed with dark animals). Back long and arched; feet large with strong claws. 
Activity: Mainly diurnal, sometimes active at dusk or before dawn; semi-arboreal, traveling along the ground or on horizontal branches in the lower canopy. 
Habits: Seen moving rapidly through the trees or on the ground alone or in groups of 2 to 4. This large mustelid travels with a bouncy gait, back and tail arched. If disturbed it usually climbs to escape, moving along branches with great agility. At night it sleeps in burrows or hollow logs. It eats insects, fruit, and vertebrates including lizards, monkeys, and agoutis. It is usually silent, but may snort sharply or spit when disturbed; growls and high-pitched barks are sometimes given. 
Habitat: Evergreen and deciduous forest and second growth; also clearings and agricultural areas near forest. 
Signs: Five-toed tracks are broad (about 55 mm front or back) with prominent claw marks; seed-filled scat often deposited on fallen logs. 
Status: Not yet recorded from Iwokrama Forest