Overview

This article is over 4 pages. There is a link to each page at the base of the page…The Andean cat (aka Andean mountain cat) is a small, attractive wildcat with a tabby coat and long tail. It inhabits a rather harsh, cold and barren landscape in the Andes Mountains at around 4,000 meters above sea level. Its population is low at an estimated 2,000. Its primary prey is viscacahs; rodents related to chinchillas. The Andean cat allows people to approach. This has facilitated its demise as locals like to kill this cat for ritualistic purposes. Hence the need to get local people involved in its conservation.

Andean mountain cat wearing a radio collar. His name is Jacobo. Photo copyright Juan Reppucci AGA

Introduction

The Andean Cat is yet another wildcat that is either endangered or under threat of entering that fragile classification by the IUCN Red List (see IUCN Red List for Cats). Accordingly, I focus on conservation in this post. PoC has donated $50 to the Andean Mountain Cat and Small Cats in S. America wildaboutcats.org project. (see Pictures of Cats org Donations).

In 2002 Mel and Fiona Sunquist, the authors of Wild Cats Of The World say that this cat was one of the least known felids in South America. In 2010, Jim Sanderson Ph.D., an expert on this cat species, is managing with his colleagues the Andean Cat Project in South America and has received the go ahead from the government to create the first Andean cat conservation and monitoring center.

This center is to be located in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. It is marked on the map, below. Dr.Sanderson works with the local people to help create a better understanding of the conservation requirements of the Andean cat and there are now at least two large areas within the Andean cat range in which the local people are supportive of its conservation.

Taxonomy

The scientific name is Leopardus jacobita. The genus Leopardus, in which this cat is included, contains most small Neotropical felids. Its inclusion is based on genetic analysis. Although the classification was based in part on a very small number of individual cats. The classification was also based on the size of the auditory chambers in the skull. It is not known how closely it is related to the Pampas cat (src: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ – “Red List”).