One of the 14 cats on WAnimals
Mammals · Carnivora · Felidae
Andean Cat
Leopardus jacobita
It faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. See full glossary
The Andean cat is one of the least known and most threatened cats in the world. It lives among the rocks and scree of the puna and the high Andean steppe of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, where it depends largely on the mountain viscacha as its main prey. It has an ash-grey coat with reddish blotches and a thick, ringed tail almost as long as its body, which it uses as a counterweight when moving among the rocks. Its populations are small and highly fragmented.
Weight
3 kg – 5.5 kg
Size
57 cm – 85 cm
Diet
Carnivore
Feeds mainly on other animals.
Activity
Nocturnal
Active mainly at night.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Hard
Estimated population
Fewer than 1,400 mature individuals
Fun facts
- GeneralOne of the rarest cats in the world; it hunts viscachas among the rocks.
- No live animal was photographed in the wild until 1998, despite the species having been described scientifically in 1865.
- It is a sacred animal for Andean communities, which keep preserved skins for livestock-marking and fertility rituals.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
- Habitat & environment
- High rocky Andean mountains (3,000-5,000 m)
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to find it
See its range on the interactive mapWhere to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Andean Cat — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Northern Tiger Cat
Leopardus tigrinus
Least ConcernPuma
Puma concolor
Pampas Cat
Leopardus colocolo
Geoffroy's Cat
Leopardus geoffroyi
Short-tailed Chinchilla
Chinchilla chinchilla
Least ConcernCulpeo
Lycalopex culpaeus
How to help
The andean cat is classified as endangered. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 6 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about andean cat.
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