Ecology & Conservation of Four Sympatric Cat Species in Argentina

This project aims to contribute to the conservation of a unique and very little understood cat guild that occurs in a threatened landscape of Argentina, through the understanding of species-specific ecological requirements and interspecific interactions as well as awareness raising activities.

The Pampas cat Oncifelis colocolo, ranges from southern Ecuador and Peru to central, western, and southern Brazil, parts of Bolivia, central Chile, Paraguay Uruguay and southern Argentina. It has been recently up-graded to the Near Threatened IUCN category.

The Geoffroy’s cat Oncifelis geoffroyi, is distributed from southern Bolivia and Brazil to the southern part of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina. The Geoffroy’s cat has been recently up-graded to the Near Threatened IUCN category.

The Jaguarundi’s, Herpailirus jaguarundi, range extends from southern Texas through the coastal lowlands of Mexico, throughout Central America, and into South America east of the Andes to central Argentina. In Central and North America, the jaguarundi is listed in appendix I of CITES, while in Argentina it is categorized as potentially vulnerable.

The Puma, Puma concolor, is one of the carnivores with the largest distribution range in the world, since it occurs from Canada to the south of Patagonia, and one of the most known. It is listed as Near Threatened by IUCN and on CITES Appendix II except for three subspecies, which are on appendix I, while in Argentina is considered Near Threatened. 

The Pampas cat is one of the least known cats in South America and very little data are available on Jaguarundi and Puma populations in Argentina. This unique guild occurs at the border between the Pampas Grassland and Argentine Monte. These ecoregions are among the most strongly affected habitats by human intervention in Argentina, due to farming and cattle activities, widespread hunting and little protection of natural areas. For these reasons it is urgent to collect baseline data on these felids that can help us to understand how these different human acitivites are affecting wildcat populations and intra-guild interactions, and what are the perception and attitudes of local communities of carnivores, in order to find solutions favouring conflict reduction and the coexistence of humans and carnivores

The goal of our project is to provide novel information on the natural history and ecological niche of the top predators of central Argentina that will contribute to understand their conservation requirements. We are investigating the present-day distribution, population status, ecological niche, and genetic identity of four species of felids, as well as how their natural behaviour is affected by habitat alterations in a human-dominated landscape.

Objectives:

• investigate the local distribution, population status and abundance of these four cat species
• analyze the trophic niche of each species and interspecific overlap
• study their home ranges, activity patterns and movements
• understand how cat natural behaviour is affected by habitat alterations caused by man
• analyze perceptions and attitudes of local communities toward carnivores and carry out environmental education activities to increase awareness on their role in natural ecosystems
• produce a habitat suitability model for the distribution of cats in the Argentine monte and grassland

You can help the wild cats of Argentina by donating today! All funds received go directly to the research project.

All photos copyright to the researchers, and not to be used for commercial purposes.

Project Details

Map of the study area. We started field data collection at Los Alamos farm and 2 other, private-owned farms (covering almost 7,000 ha) located in the proximity of Chasicó Lake Provincial Park, Buenos Aires province of Argentina. The main habitats are scrubland, where the most common trees areProsopis alba, P. nigra, and Geoffrea decorticans, and sand dunes, where vegetation is dominated by Aextoxicon punctatum. Cattle activities create open pastures with scattered trees.

Methods

We work with photo trapping t o study distribution and habitat use, activity patterns and relative population abundance for each cat species. Cameras are baited with Bobcat Urine or Bobcat Gland Lure.

T he cats are also being captured with different live trap models. Captured animales are sedated with a combination of tiletamine-zolazepam and morphological measures and biological samples are taken. Adult animals are fitted with radiocollars.

Through the use of radio telemetry we are obtaining information about the spatial and social organization, movement and activity, habitat use and selection.

To study the trophic niche of each cat species we are collecting fecal samples, which will be identified by DNA analysis.

We are interviewing local people, to spread awareness on our work and understand which are the conflicts between them and carnivores. With education work on schoolchildren and adults, we  aim to improve attitudes of local communities toward carnivores.

Preliminary Results

In our study area, until the moment, we have confirmed the presence of 3 of the 4 species of wild cats, where the Geoffroy's cat is more abundant than the Pampas cat and puma. With a sampling effort of 590 camera trap days, we took 47 carnivore photos. Geoffroy's cats were the most abundant wildcats, but we also obtained Pampas cat pictures (Fig 1).

Small cats mainly defecate in latrines, particularly on trees (57.7% of all defecation sites, with an average of 3.2 faeces) and on the ground (42.3%; average number of faeces: 1.6;Fig. 2).

Fig. 1. Proportions of carnivore camera trap photos at              Los Alamos farm and surrounding areas.	Fig. 2. Proportions of small cat defecation site types at Los              Alamos farm and surrounding areas.

Mauro Lucherini is a PhD Zoologist (Universitá di Siena, Italy) and GECM Field Coordinator (Universidad Nacional del Sur–UNS and CONICET). He has also lead a conservation biology project on the Andean mountain cats since 1998. Mauro has been a member of the IUCN Cat Specialst Group since 1998.

Claudia Manfredi is a PhD Biologist at UNS; she has worked with Geoffroy’s cats since 1999, and has been a member of the IUCN Cat SG since 2005.