The first recorded pampas cat at Patagonia Park, taken by camera trap December 2013. Photo: Cristián Saucedo and Manuel Cabrera
From the corner of your eye the pampas cat looks a like regular house cat out for a stroll. Approximately 11-14 inches tall and with brown, grey, or rust colored fur, the pampas’ general size and coloring might not raise any flags. However, look a bit closer and you will notice its especially wide face, large pointed ears, a short tail (about half the length of its body) and distinctive rings and lines around its limbs—your first clues that you are looking at rare and wild animal. Due to its extensive range of habitat, different pampas populations exhibit diverse colors, patterns, and features. Some pampas cats exhibit patterns similar to a leopard or jaguar; others are simply grey and brown speckled, while still others have black lines above their mouths and ears. Other distinctive features include the animal’s long dorsal mane, which extends down its back. Primarily due to declining habitat, the pampas has been designated as Near Threatened on the IUCN redlist. Sightings of the cat are so rare in the Aysén region that there is not enough data to give them a regional designation.
The pampas cat, also known as the colocolo, is named for its habitat—the flat, fertile plains between the Atlantic Ocean and the Andes Mountains that are dominated by bunch grasses, shrubs, and small trees. Populations of pampas spread the length of the Andes through Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia. These cats feed on the small mammals and birds that live in their specific grassland habitat. The features of these populations vary so much that some scientists have divided the pampas into three subspecies or geographic variations.
Though few pampas cats have been spotted at Patagonia Park, our camera traps and a few lucky park wardens have capture some of the best shots ever captured of the elusive pampas in this region. The first pampas recorded at Patagonia Park was captured via camera trap in December 2013. Though they are believed to be nocturnal, our camera traps and park wardens have managed to capture a few images of these special cats in the daylight. The pampas is one of three known cats to inhabit Patagonia Park, sharing habitat with Geoffroy’s cat as well as puma.
BBC Wildlife Magazine awarded this image in the Rare Species category of the Camera Trap Photo Contest 2014. Photo: Cristián Saucedo and Manuel Cabrera
Pampas cats in Patagonia Park, captured in April 2014. Photo: Cristián Saucedo and Manuel Cabrera
Photo: Manuel Cabrera
Perhaps numbers declined because all the little birds and mammals are gone? These killers taking 20+ birds a day. Perhaps they should be trapped.
LOVE the work you are doing there! Thanks for the pics of the Colocolo! I will get there some day.
Hoy, 15-11-2015, en el diario “Jornada” de Trelew, Chubut, figura como muy destacado el hecho de que un guía de turismo, en la pingüinera de Punta Tombo, retrató en pleno día a un Leopardus colocolo descansando debajo de un arbusto.¡Excelentes las fotos de este artículo!
Perdón: olvidé adjuntar el enlace al artículo periodístico en cuestión. Es este:
http://www.diariojornada.com.ar/144948/sociedad/Guia_turistico_fotografio_un_animal_poco_conocido
Thank you for what you are doing.
Love the beautiful cat, along with the birds and mammals.
Don’t measure extinction by the presence of this predator, more by homo sapiens reproducing beyond sustainable proportions, mining the earth for the energy exponentially.
So sorry to hear about Douglas Tompkins.
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the highest quality blogs online.
I’m going to highly recommend this blog!
Awesome! Great help for prepping for my trip to Patagonia in 2017! Love the photos they are awesome!