Oreailurus jacobita

– Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	ANIMALIA
Phylum:	CHORDATA
Class:	MAMMALIA
Order:	CARNIVORA
Family:	FELIDAE
Scientific Name:	Oreailurus jacobita
Species Authority:	(Cornalia, 1865)
Common Name/s:	ANDEAN CAT (Eng) MOUNTAIN CAT (Eng) CHAT DES ANDES (Fre) CHINCHAY (Spa) GATO ANDINO (Spa) GATO LINCE (Spa) OSJO (Spa)
Taxonomic Notes:	Likely to be transferred to Leopardus.

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EN C2a(i) ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2002

Assessor/s:

Cat Specialist Group

Evaluator/s:

Nowell, K., Breitenmoser, U., Breitenmoser, C. & Jackson, P. (Cat Red List Authority)

Justification:

There has been a substantial increase in research effort for O. jacobita since publication of the Cat Action Plan (Nowell and Jackson 1996), and all new information points to the species rarity (Garcia-Perea 1999, Iriarte 1998, Lucherini et al. 1999, Perovic et al. 1999, Sanderson 1999, Villalba and Bernal 1998, Lucherini and Rocca 2000, Yensen and Seymour 2000, Walker and Novaro 2001). Based on estimates of geographic range and average densities of other small cats (Nowell and Jackson 1996), the Andean mountain cat’s total effective population size is estimated at below 2,500 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend due to loss of prey base and persecution, and no subpopulation containing more than 250 mature individuals.

History:

1982	-	Rare as Felis jacobita (Thornback and Jenkins 1982)
1986	-	Rare as Felis jacobita (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
1988	-	Rare as Felis jacobita (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Rare as Felis jacobita (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Insufficiently Known (Groombridge 1994)
1996	-	Vulnerable (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	O. jacobita is known only from high elevations in the Andes, generally above 3,500 m in elevation, and ranging up to approximately 4,800 (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Walker and Novaro 2001).
Countries:	Native: Argentina; Bolivia; Chile; Peru

Population

Population:

The Andean mountain cat has only been seen in the wild a few times by scientists, and there are few museum specimens. While recent records have been collected from Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, the only published Peruvian record is from 1969 (Grimwood 1969, Walker and Novaro 2001). Andean mountain cats may be confused with a similar-looking and more common species, the pampas cat (Lynchailurus colocolo), also found at high elevations in the Andes (Villalba and Bernal 1999, Garcia-Perea 1999).

Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

The Andean mountain cat is restricted to the rocky, arid, sparsely vegetated areas of the high Andes above the timberline. Its distribution is similar to the historic range of the chinchilla (Chinchilla brevicaudata) and current range of the mountain viscacha (Lagidium) (Yensen and Seymour 2000), which are believed to be its major prey (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Sanderson 1999).

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

6	Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs, mountain peaks)

Threats

Threats:

The mountain chinchilla was likely to have been a major prey species for the Andean mountain cat, but the species was hunted nearly to extinction for the fur trade (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Andean mountain cats have been observed in the wild hunting mountain viscachas, which lives in patchily distributed small colonies. It is a tradition throughout much of the high Andes to keep dried and stuffed specimens of both the Andean mountain cat and pampas cat for harvest festivals, when they are decorated with ribbons and money (Iriarte 1998, Sanderson 1999, Villalba and Bernal 1998). These cats were originally hunted with dogs.

List of Threats:

12	Unknown (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

Included on CITES Appendix I. The species also has full protection at national level across its entire range (Nowell and Jackson 1996).

List of Conservation Actions:

1.2.2.1	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Implementation - International level (in place)
1.2.2.2	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Implementation - National level (in place)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (compilers and editors) 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Cat Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website

Garcia-Perea, R. 1999. A morphological key to distinguish Andean mountain cats from pampas cats (genus Lynchailurus). Report to Cat Action Treasury. In English and Spanish.

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Holdridge, L.R. 1978. Resource use and conservation in the high mountain Andes. In: The use of high mountains of the world. pp. 57-68. Department of Lands and Survey and IUCN, Wellington.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1986. 1986 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1988. 1988 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 2002. 2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. . Downloaded on 8 October 2002.

Iriarte, A.W. 1998. Distribution and status of the Andean mountain cat in Chile. Report to Cat Action Treasury. In Spanish and English (transl. E. Yensen).

Lucherini, M., Sana, D. And Birochio, D. 1999. The Andean mountain cat (Oreailurus jacobita) and other wild carnivores in the proposed Anconquija national park, Argentina. Scientific Report 5, Societa Zoologica la Torbiera.

Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. (compilers and editors) 1996. Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. (online version)

Perovic, P.G., Walker, R.S. and Novaro, A.J. 1999. Estudio preliminar del gato andino (Oreailurus jacobita) en el noreste de Argentina. Unpublished report, in Spanish.

Sanderson, J. 1999. Andean mountain cats in northern Chile. Cat News 30:25-26.

Scrocchi, G.J. and Halloy, S.P. 1986. Systematic, ecological, ethological and biogeograhpical notes on the Andean mountain cat Felis jacobita Cornalia (Felidae, Carnivora). Acta. Zool. Lilloana 38(2): 157-170 (in Spanish).

Thornback, J. and Jenkins, M. 1982. The IUCN Mammal Red Data Book. Part 1: Threatened mammalian taxa of the Americas and the Australasian zoogeographic region (excluding Cetacea). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Villalba, L. and Bernal, N. 1998. Distribution and status of the Andean mountain cat in Bolivia. Report to Cat Action Treasury. In Spanish.

Walker, S. and Novaro, A. 2001. First report on the multinational initiative to determine the status of the Andean mountain cat and priorities for its conservation. Unpublished report to Cat Action Treasury and COCGA (Comittee for the Conservation of the Andean Mountain Cat).

Yensen, E. and Seymour, K.L. 2000. Oreailurus jacobita. Mammalian Species 644: 1-6.

Citation:	Cat Specialist Group 2002. Oreailurus jacobita. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 July 2008.
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