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. Not to be used for commercial purposes.

More Project Details Here