IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Iriarte, A.W. | |
| Gato montes Andino en Chile: Estado de conservation y distribucion geografica | |
| 1998 Full Book | |
The local population of ethnic Aymara which has lived permanently in the zone for over eight thousand years can identify separately the species of altiplano mountain cats. The Aymara inhabitants call the Andean mountain cat _"titi"_ and the colocolo cat _"abatire" _giving more importance to the first species. Pelts or mummified are used in ritual dances that are held in the month of February in order to have better harvests and higher fecundity of Llamas and alpacas, An ancient Aymara tradition exists that the capture of a mountain cat brings good luck for one year to the person who captures it. At the same time, failure to capture it in the hunt could mean a year of bad luck. In almost all of the family groups in the Chilean altiplano it is possible to find a skin or mummified body of a mountain cat. Each June 24 in the city of Putre (3500m elevation) a festival called "Fiesta del Titi" is held in homage to the Andean mountain cat. It seems that Andean mountain cats regularly capture aquatic birds, especially if one considers that the latter's populations have increased considerably owing to the protection from hunting that exists in almost all wetlands in the altiplano zone. The principal differences between Andean mountain cats and the colocolo are their larger size (30% greater) and its long and dense tail, and the easily appreciated 7 to 9 regular rings on the tail. The growing entrance of evangelical churches (non-Catholic) into the region has started a loss of the ancestral customs of using skins of wildlife and domestic animals, including the use of mountain cats. According to the information gathered herein, it is possible to conclude that the species does not live regularly at elevations below 3500m elevation. The Andean mountain cat utilizes preferentially areas of low human use, the presence of cliffs with rocky talus slopes, and bofedales that serve as a feeding area for viscachas and other rodents and aquatic birds. No evidence was detected on the possible commerce in pelts in the area of its distribution in Chile. Owing to its extreme rarity, it is very improbable that a market for pelts exists in the zone. One of the possible causes of local extinction of the species in the southern portion of its distribution in Chile (Regions IV, V, and Metropolitan) is the massive extinction of one of its favorite prey, the long-tailed chinchilla (or lanigera) toward the end of the last century. |
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