

The Andean cat. © Jim Sanderson, PhD/Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation.

The elusive Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), which until the late 1990s was only known to scientists by a couple photographs, has been discovered beyond the Andes mountain range for which it is named. According to researchers, the wild Andean cat resembles Asia’s snow leopard, both in appearance and its habitat above altitudes of 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), only in this case the wild cat is about the size of a domesticated feline. But, scientists have now discovered that the cat, which is listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, also inhabits the Patagonian steppe at elevations as low as 650 meters (2,100 feet).

“These confirmed records show the lowest elevations ever reported for the Andean cat,” said Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) conservationist Andres Novaro, lead author of the study appearing in CATNews. “According to genetic studies underway led by Daniel Cossios, this new population appears to represent an evolutionary lineage distinct from the highland population.”



Andean cats’ main prey: the mountain vizcacha. Photo by: Alexandre Buisse.

Andean cat presence was confirmed by conducting interviews, collecting scat, and analyzing the skins of cats killed by locals. Researchers now believe the Andean cats’ habitat follows that of its prey, the mountain vizcacha (Lagidium viscacia), a rodent that looks like a rabbit, but is related to the chinchilla.

Surprisingly, the Patagonia steppe is actually home to four wild cat species: Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi), pampas cat (Leopardus pajeros), the jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi), and the Andean cat, which is the most endangered.

“Discovering a new population of Andean cats is an important finding for this elusive and rare species,” said Mariana Varese, acting director of WCS’s Latin America and Caribbean Program. “Determining the range of the Andean cat in the Patagonian steppe will provide conservationists with a foundation for later conservation plans.”

The Andean cat faces a number of threats including killing by locals both for the belief that is has supernatural powers and that it is a danger to livestock; industrial activities such as oil drilling; new road-building; locals eating mountain vizcacha; and climate change melting the glaciers on which the ecosystem depends.

There are around 36 species of wild cat in the world. More than half, 22 species, of these are dubbed ‘small cats’ and remain little known by the public and little aided by much of the conservation community.

For more information on the Andean cat and efforts to save it: Small Cat Conservation Alliance.

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