IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Pereira, J.; Lucherini, M.; Trigo, T. | |
| _Leopardus geoffroyi_, Geoffroy's cat | |
| 2015 Full Book | |
The Geoffroyïs Cat is listed as Least Concern because it is widespread and abundant over most of its range. This felid typically ranks first in felid abundance in several habitat types such as the dry forests of the Bolivian Chaco (Cu‚llar et al. 2006) and of the Argentine Espinal (Caruso et al. 2012), scrublands of the Monte (Pereira et al. 2011), relicts of the natural Pampas grasslands (Manfredi et al. 2006), lowland cropland areas of the Andean subtropical forests (Di Bitetti et al. 2011), and grasslands of southern Brazil (Trigo et al. 2013). Its distribution range is considered to be continuous, but it does not occur in the high elevation areas (above 3,750 m) of the Andes. In the northern and central part of its range, this felid appears to have been favoured by the conversion of sub-tropical forests into croplands, while it seem to be tolerant to some degree of habitat alteration produced by livestock management. A recent expansion of its distribution has been documented in northeastern Argentina (Rinas et al. 2014). However, it is considered rare in Chile, mostly because of its limited distribution in this country (Iriarte et al. 2013) and Vulnerable in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Almeida et al. 2013). Anthropogenic mortality (e.g. road-kills, persecution due to poultry predation) is intense in several areas (e.g., Pampas grasslands) and potential negative impacts from current trends in climate change have been proposed (Canepuccia et al. 2008, Pereira and Novaro 2014). A hybrid zone between _L. geoffroyi_ and _L. guttulus_ was identified in southern Brazil where the two species meet (Trigo et al. 2008, 2013b). These studies are currently indicating a possible natural origin for this event. In this case, this hybrid zone will be considered as an eligible process for conservation, by representing an important part of the evolutionary history of these species. However, specific studies are still needed to confirm this and evaluate whether anthropogenic influences such as human-induced changes in habitat or population densities in these areas could be influencing these hybridization events, and thus constituting a threat to these species by compromising their genetic integrity. |
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