17.

Andean Mountain Cat

Leopardus jacobitus

French: Chat des Andes / German: Andenkatze / Spanish: Gato andino

Other common names: Andean Cat, Mountain Cat, Andean Highland Cat

Taxonomy. Felis jacobita Cornalia, 1865,

Bolivia.

Monotypic.

Distribution. C & S Peru, SW Bolivia, NW Argentina and NE Chile.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 57.7-64 cm, tail 41.3-48 cm. One male weighed 4 kg. About the size of a large house cat. The thick, long fur is pale, silvery gray, spotted, and striped with dark markings. Underparts are white and marked with dark spots. Chest and forelegs marked with black bars. The long, uniformly bushy tail is marked with about seven dark bands.

Habitat. High (3000-4500 m), rocky treeless zone in the Andes mountains to below 1000 m in Patagonian steppe of Neuquen Province, Argentina. Probably less than a dozen confirmed sightings of live cats in the wild, all in arid and semi-arid areas above tree line. Vegetation is sparse, consisting of scattered dwarf shrubs, clumps of grass, and cold-hardy cushion plants. One specimen collected at 5100 m in Peru.

Food and Feeding. Little information available. Probably also preys on ground-dwelling birds, small rodents, and lizards.

Activity patterns. Little information available, but in three of the four observations the cat was hunting in Mountain Viscachas colonies during the daytime.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Nothing known.

Breeding. Nothing known.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Fully protected throughout range; hunting and trade prohibited. Restricted distribution, rare throughout range. There have been few observations of this cat in the wild and its biology and status are almost completely unknown. Recent survey work in Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile found few signs of the species.

Bibliography. Delgado et al. (2004), Garcia-Perea (2002), Lucherini et al. (1998), Martino et al. (2008), Napolitano et al. (2008), Nowell & Jackson (1996), Sanderson (1999), Scrocchi & Halloy (1986), Sorli et al. (2006), Yensen & Seymour (2000).