Leopardus geoffroyi
Geoffroy's cat

Leopardus geoffroyi occurs throughout most of the southern half of South America. This includes Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Patagonia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uraguay. Tge species is widely distributed with the exception of southern Chile, where it is only found east of the Andes (Garman,1997; Nowak, 1999).

L. geoffroyi has a widely varied habitat, and occurs from sea level through 3,500 m elevations. It primarily lives along rivers in dense, scrubby vegetation. It has also been found in open woodlands and savannas, marshes and even grasslands, although it avoids open areas. These felids are sometimes arboreal, and a high percentage of its feces is found in trees. They are also very good swimmers (IUCN,1996; Garman,1997).

Geoffroy's cat is a small wild cat, about the size of a large domestic cat, with males being larger than females. The head and body length of this cat ranges from 422 to 665 mm, with the tail adding an additional 240 to 365 mm to the total length. It weighs from three to five kg and stands about 30 cm high. Its coat color varies from a silver-grey to a yellowish-brown. The color of the fur varies geographically, with the more yellow forms in the northern part of the species' range, and the more silver colored forms in the south. The fur is marked with a pattern of small, uniformly spaced, dark brown or black spots all over the body. Two black streaks run down each cheek. Melanism is fairly common. The tail is ringed. (Nowak, 1999; IUCN,1996; Garman,1997).

This cat lives about fourteen to fifteen years on average. However, in captivity they can live up to 20 years (Garman,1997 and IUCN,1996).

L. geoffroyi is primarily nocturnal, but has been seen hunting at dawn and dusk. It likes water, and is an avid swimmer. Secretive and solitary, it spends much of its time in the trees. These cats have been known to sleep and mate in the trees. They are quite agile, and have even been known to walk on the underside of a branch. Males and females do not interact much, other than to mate. Females home ranges are about 2.5 square km. Males territories may be as much as three times the size of females. Female ranges may overlap each other, as well as males ranges. Although male ranges may overlap the females ranges, they do not overlap other males. They have a density of about 1.2 individuals per ten square km. Most people are not scared of this small cat, but should be, because it is very aggressive, and has never been truly domesticated (Johnson,1999 and IUCN,1996).

Not much is known about how this felid communicates. It is likely that, as with other felids, there are some vocalizations and possible some chemical communications between conspecifics. It is likely that tactile and visual communication, especially between a mother and her young, are also present.

This felid is a hunter, and not a very picky one. It includes a wide variety of animals in its diet, which is dominated by introduced prey, specifically European hares. It will eat just about any kind of meat it can get a hold of; however its most abundant food items are hamsters and hares. P. geoffroyi hunts in trees and on the ground, and is also known to fish (Novaro,1999; IUCN,1996).

Foods eaten include: birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, rodents, wild guinea pigs, small agoutis, hares and other small mammals.

Geoffroy's cat has a camoflaged pelage, but this is believed to be primarily for their own benefit as predators (i.e. to hide them from prey, rather than to hide them from predators). other possible adaptations to reduce predation have nit been reported. (IUCN,1996).

This cat is very opportunistic in terms of what it eats, so it helps to control small animal populations in the wild. It also has a wide range, so it helps control various populations of small vertebrates over a large portion of South America (Novaro,1999).

Geoffroy's cats are aggressive and have never been fully domesticated, and so they are a truly wild cat. They may also be pests as livestock predators (IUCN,1996).

This species was heavily hunted for its beautiful pelts from the late 1960's into the mid 1980's, and is the most abundant species of spotted cat in the skin trade (IUCN,1996; Garman,1997; Nowak, 1999).

L. geoffroyi is the least protected of all the small cats, having the lowest AZA conservation rank. They are the most common wild cat in South America. However, they are also the most commonly hunted, and population trends are that they are decreasing. IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened, and change the status to Vulnerable if the downward population trend continues. CITES lists the species as Appendix I.

In the seventies and eighties, L. geoffroyi was heavily hunted for fur coats, which was legal at the time. It takes approximately 25 cat skins to make one fur coat. 350,000 skins were exported between 1976 and 1979 in Argentina alone, and over 500,000 total from South America in the early eighties. The fur trade has since declined, but about 55,000 pelts are still traded yearly. However, it is believed that most of these pelts are from cats killed that were pests or threats to livestock populations. Commercial hunting has essentially ceased, but these cats are still considered endangered. Habitat destruction also affects these cats. Not enough time has passed since the hunting has been stopped to determine their status, but they are now fully protected (IUCN,1996; Garman,1997).

This cat was named after the 19th-century French naturalist, Geoffroy St. Hilaire (Nowak, 1999).

A study was done comparing DNA from Geoffroy's cat to DNA from three other neotropical small cat species. Geoffroy's cat had some monophyletic clustering and is believed to have diverged from these three other feline species 2.0 million years ago (Johnson,1999).