Chat des pampas

The Pampas Cat populations living in the High Andes and Puna eco-regions appear to be able to reach relatively high densities (0.74-0.78 individuals/km²) in the most productive habitat patches (Gardner et al. 2010). The population appears to be stable in these regions of Argentina and in slight decline in Bolivia and Peru because of decreasing habitat quality caused by increased anthropogenic modification.

The Pampas Cat is a naturally rare species in most of Patagonia, where records of its presence are scarce in comparison with those of other felids (e.g. Geoffroy´s Cat, Puma).

In the Argentine Mesopotamia (Corrientes province), a couple of records (road-killed animals) were obtained during the last decade, but almost no evidence was recorded through camera trapping for the Iberá wetlands in spite of intensive trapping effort, thus suggesting that the species is rare in this region.

The Pampas Cat appears to be declining in central Argentina (Cordoba, San Luis), mainly due to habitat modification (i.e. soybean crop expansion), and is regionally extinct in the Pampas grasslands, where it only occurs in the southern and dry portion (Pereira et al. 2002 and recent unpublished surveys). In the Argentine Espinal, population numbers are low (0.11-0.17 individuals/ km², lower than for the Geoffroy’s Cat, Caruso et al. 2012) and distribution is largely limited to grassland habitats that are threatened by human activities. Pampas cat are similarly rare in the adjacent southern part of the Monte eco-region (Pereira et al. 2011).

Pampas Cat records are very scarce in the Yungas eco-region of NW Argentina, where it is limited to the high-altitude grasslands (Di Bitetti et al. 2011).

A survey on small cats has found no records of Pampas Cats in the Bolivian Chaco dry forest (Cuellar et al. 2006).

In Brazil, the Pampas Cat inhabits open areas, such as the grasslands of the Pampas, the marshy Pantanal, and particularly the savannas of the Cerrado (Araujo Bagno 2004). The species is considered typically rare and with low population densities, typically of 0.01–0.05 individuals/km² (or lower), throughout these regions, but may be relatively common in a few areas, usually protected, such as Emas National Parks in the Cerrado (Godoi et al. 2010), and Mirador State Park, where densities of 0.1–0.2 individuals/km² are reached (Oliveira et al. 2010, Oliveira 2011).

In the Brazilian Pampas (southern portion of Rio Grande do Sul [RS] state), this felid is considered to occur only in well-preserved habitats areas (whose remaining area covers ca. 81,500 km²), and is always rarer than Geoffroy’s Cat.

Habitat loss and population decline is expected to be 14% in the next 21 years or three generations (assuming the same generation length of seven years). Because of this, the species was considered Vulnerable (C1) in Brazil (Queirolo et al. 2013). The situation is thought to be the same in Uruguay.

An interesting point revealed by recent molecular studies is that the populations in RS state (Brazilian pampas) and Uruguay are genetically distinct from those present in the Brazilian Cerrado and also from Argentinean populations, indicating that they have been demographically isolated for a considerable period (Santos, Trigo and Eizirik, in preparation). Such a result indicates that this region constitutes a distinct conservation unit for this species, which should be taken into consideration when assessing its overall status.

In Peru, the Pampas Cat is generally uncommon or rare. A seemingly separate subpopulation of Pampas Cat occurs in the Tumbesian region of western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Individuals here are small and well-marked compared with the Andean form. This form inhabits mainly forested habitats, favoring dense vegetation along permanent water-courses and even in mangroves. It also occurs in agricultural fields, especially sugar cane plantations and in sparse desert habitats with little vegetation along the coast where shorebirds congregate. In this region, the high level of human impacts and settlement has resulted in widespread forest loss and the Pampas Cat is now extremely rare, being primarily found in protected areas.

Most of its subpopulations, which could in fact end up being considered as genetically different species, would be Vulnerable individually.