The 'ghost' cat of the Andes, the feline of the high peaks that is in danger of

extinction

The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) is a small feline found in the Andes of Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. It shares its habitat with the grass cat (Leopardus colocolo),
another feline of similar size, but with a wider distribution, with which it is occasionally
confused.
Its fur is predominantly ash gray with reddish-yellowish brown spots that are arranged
vertically on both sides of the body giving the appearance of continuous stripes. It is
characterized by having a very long tail (66 to 75% of the length of the head and body),
thick, cylindrical, with a furry appearance and with 6 to 9 wide rings and dark brown to
black in color. Its legs also have thinner dark bands or spots, but they do not form
complete rings.

WHAT COULD PART OF THE EMERGENCY OF ITS EXTINCTION OF THIS SPECIES BE ABOUT?

The main characteristics of the environment where the Andean cat lives are aridity,
extreme temperatures, sparse vegetation and a landscape where the rocky patches that
emerge in the landscape are especially relevant, because they provide refuge for a great
diversity of animals. Due to the fact that these rocky patches are not continuous, the
habitat of the Andean cat and its prey is naturally fragmented and, combined with the
arid conditions, it presents a high fragility, so that minor environmental modifications
can have a great impact on the species that inhabit this area. landscape. There is a great
overlap between the Andean cat and the pajonal cat in the use of available resources
and in the use of the territory, with the Andean cat being a more specialized species and
with a narrower range of resources user

The Andean cat

The 'ghost' cat of the Andes

With these photographs and videos, they discovered that their main activity is at night,
in the Patagonian steppe. Despite its symbolic, ritual and religious importance for
native cultures, the Andean cat is threatened. "Their populations have low genetic
diversity, which could be another conservation problem," says Mauro Lucherini, a
researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet).

For this reason, the Andean cat has been very difficult to study. In fact, explains
Mammalian Behavioral Ecology in a statement, "very few researchers have seen it face
to face." For this reason, in the 2000s, a team of scientists from the Universidad
Nacional del Sur (Argentina) brought together more than 30 specialists to document it.
Only in this way, the researchers said, could their extinction be avoided.
Before the project came to fruition, the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) listed the Andean cat as part of its red list of endangered animals. To prevent
the damage from growing, the researchers set up photographic traps to record their diet
and wild behavior. This is how the Andean Gato Alliance was founded.

Currently, the group of researchers from Los Andes is fighting to preserve the species in
nature reserves. The most important of them, where a large population of wild cats is
preserved, is the Sajama National Park, which extends through Bolivia and Chile. Only
in these spaces, the researchers explain, will it be possible to analyze the species in
more detail, in order to guarantee its persistence in its native environment.