Kodkod – comprehensive treatise

Description

OK down to slightly more serious work. As can be seen in Jim’s photograph this is another beautiful wild cat. It would seem that the wild cats have suffered at the hands of humankind because of their beauty. The more beautiful the coat the more eager we are to kill the animal. This cat has a fine spotted tabby coat (new window). There are many small dark spots against a muted, golden-yellowish background with a white underside. The coat ranges from brownish-yellow to grey-brown (src: Wikipedia)

The high contrast facial markings are striking in black and white. The short tail is heavily striped and thick, which is common it seems to a number of small wildcats (e.g., the Andean Cat, living at high elevations). The ears have a spot on the back of the ear flaps. Melanistic cats (black) are not that uncommon apparently. This cat can be found up to a maximum of about 2,500 meters (see habitat below). As to size and weight, this is the smallest wildcat in the Americas (north and south America). An adult weighs between 4.5 and 5.5 lbs (2-2.5 kg), which is at the small end of domestic cat weight (see Largest Domestic Cat Breed). This cat is between 16.5 and 20 inches (42-51 cms) in length and 10 inches at the shoulder. This cat is described as, “tiny” by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ (Red List) and “diminutive by the authors of Wild Cats of The World.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ Assessment

The Kodkod is classified as Vulnerable as at 20 April 2014. It has been classified this way for the past 12 years which is encouraging but how accurate are Red List classifications?

The reason for this status in respect of threat in the wild is, in part, due to:

• restricted extent of occurrence (smallest distribution of Americas wild cats)
• fragmented area of occupancy
• a total population of adults at less than 10,000
• declining population of 30% over the last 18 years due to habitat loss (conversion to pine forest plantations), prey loss, persecution
• it is projected that the population decline will continue in the future

I think it worth mentioning a research project carried out by the Universidad Nacional del Sur Argentina, reported on in 2001, in which the team where involved in a conservation and research in respect of this wildcat and the Patagonia Mountain Forest.

They refer to this wild cat as “very endangered” and “in urgent need of help”. They make a good point. It is impossible to conserve what is unknown and not a great deal is known about this cat. The lack of information about the small wildcats is a topic I am obliged to return to because I sense that the Kodkod, as one example, might be more endangered than is made out by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. That is not in anyway to criticise this organisation.

In a research article published by Mastozoologia Neotropical, Journal of Neotropical Mammalogy, dated 2003, by Gerado Acosta-Jamett, Javier A. Simonetti, Ramiro O.Bustamante and Nigel Dunstone a conclusion drawn was that the main conservation strategy of South America to establish protected areas was not enough to preserve populations of wild carnivores that occur in low densities as is the case for the Kodkod. The point that was made is that the protected areas are too small to maintain viable populations.They say that no protected area in central coastal Chile would sustain a Kodkod population in the long term. What they also say, however, is that the protected areas could and should be joined up to enlarge them by forest corridors. Deforestation undermines this, though.