Kodkod – comprehensive treatise

Range, Habitat and Ecology

Here is a map of the range. You can see a bigger version on this page: Kodkod Range

View Kodkod Range 2009 in a larger map

This cat is found almost exclusively in an area of Chile but also in the western edge of neighbouring Argentina, where is shares territory with Geoffroy’s Cat (see map below). The entire area in similar in size to that of Texas. In Chile its range extends from Santiago Province going south to the islands of Chiloé and the Guaitecas. In Argentina its range overs a small part of the country, the eastern Andes in the provinces of Neuquén, Rio Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz.:

Above right is a thumbnail photo (published under a Creative Commons license (see below for license)). Calbuco volcano is within the range of the Kodkod cat. The map below shows this particular spot:

View Larger Map

It is thought that the presence of the similar looking Geoffroy’s Cat might be a threat to the smaller Kodkod.

And below is the Island of of Chiloé, Chile, also where this cat is found. It is just south of Calbuco. On Chile’s Chiloe Island the landscape is largely rural as can be seen. Home ranges of 6.5 km² and 1.2 km² were found for females:

The photo (left) is a thumbnail (Published under CC license (see below)). And finally, the following photo is of the Forest of Araucaria, a moist temperate mixed forest of the southern Andean and Coastal ranges. Although the Kodkod prefers forest, and “corridors of forest” are seen as important for its survival in a landscape dominated by people, it is able to tolerate scrub and secondary forest.

This wild cat is thought to be “arboreal” (a tree and forest dweller).

This picture (left) is also a thumbnail. Published under CC license (see below).

The populations are fragmented. In central Chile, for example, there is an estimated overall population of 2,000 cats but in numerous subpopulations, with only as little as 10 cats in some subpopulations. The Red List considers high density populations as 1 individual (adult or sub-adult) per km². (Subpopulation means: A well-defined set of interacting individuals that compose a proportion of a larger, interbreeding metapopulation – src: www.stateofthesalmon.org/resources/glossary.asp)