On the high slopes and foothills of the Andean mountains, in the thorny bushes of the Patagonian steppe, and in the grasslands of the often-flooded pampas, lives a little jack-of-all-trades wildcat called the gato montes, or the Geoffroy’s cat in English (scientific name: Leopardus geoffroyi). The most widespread of the small cat species that inhabit South America, the gato montes is found in Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, where it is most abundant [1]. The gato montes is about the same size as a house cat, but it is an incredibly hardy and adaptable animal that can handle just about anything nature can throw at it.
The gato montes is one of many generalist species in South America. An animal that is a generalist can adapt and thrive in a variety of environments and consume lots of different types of food depending on what is available in a given place [2]. The gato montes is known to inhabit jungles, wetlands, grasslands, forests, high-altitude deserts, and mountains – it can live in habitats ranging from sea level to 3,800 meters in altitude [1]! Similarly, it hunts a variety of prey, including small birds, rodents, rabbits, lizards and insects [1]. Gatos monteses are ambush predators, meaning they prefer to hide, using their patterned coat for camouflage, biding their time until their prey are close. Anecdotally, ranchers in Patagonia say that gatos monteses will sometimes hunt yearling to adult sheep, as well as rheas (a cousin of the Australian emu and African ostrich) which are both several times larger than them, often waiting in tall vegetation to ambush their larger prey by water holes. The cats are very cautious and tend to be very wary (see the last two videos, below). They are also excellent climbers, a trait that allows them to hunt and shelter in high trees, thorny bushes, and steep rocky canyon walls depending on their habitat [3].
Gatos montes are small: females generally weigh between 2.5-5 kg, and males between 3.5-8kg. Both are characterized by spotted and striped coats with white spots on their ear tips, though in more northern parts of their range some individuals can have all black coats – a trait called melanism [1]. Each cat has a distinct pattern on its coat which can be used to identify individuals [1] (Try to guess which cats match in the four videos below!)
Can you guess who’s who? There are two different gatos montes in the four videos above – two videos per cat. (Answers at the bottom of this article) [Videos by: Olivia Feldman]
Like many wild feline species, gatos monteses are most active in the early mornings, evenings, and at night and spend most of their time living solitarily [1]. Each individual has a territory, roughly 0.2 to 5.5 km2 large, although territory sizes are not known from Patagonia, where a large portion of their population likely lives [1]. While they wander alone most of the time, gatos monteses nevertheless “socialize” – but using scent! They are commonly known to use communal latrines – with many individuals using the same tree, shrub or rocky cave to urinate and defecate [4].
Scientists believe gatos monteses use these latrines to communicate, with males using them to mark territory and warn off other males and females using them to indicate when they are in heat [4]. Male gatos monteses generally have larger ranges than females, and their territories tend to encompass those of several females [3].
Like other small wild cat species, the gato montes has not been well-studied, and scientists are still trying to understand how it interacts with other members of its own species as well as other species of small south American wildcats, just how prevalent it is throughout its range, and what most influences its hunting preferences.
The author led a brief capture campaign to fit GPS radio collars to the cats in order to study their movement and habitat preferences. At left, the footage shows a gato montes stalking a mouse that is eating bait inside a cage. The camera trap failed after this, but the cage was still open when the author checked it the next morning. At right, this female spent over an hour exploring this cage, leaving, and returning before finally entering. Gatos monteses are cautious and wary, but she was under a year old and likely very hungry and more likely to take risks than an adult cat. [Videos by: Olivia Feldman]
Because of its extreme adaptability, the gato montes can live close to humans and agricultural lands across habitats. Although it is not classified as endangered in any of the countries it inhabits, the gato montes is still heavily hunted by ranchers and farmers for preying on domestic animals like lambs and chickens, and was historically hunted for its striking coat [3]. Conversion of habitat into agricultural or urban land is also a threat to the population of this and other small South American cat species [1]. Efforts to conserve and protect this and other small wild cats have focused on working with livestock owners to prevent gatos monteses from hunting livestock, as well as to communicate to people and governments of the important role this and other small wild cat species play in the ecosystem [1].
Answers to cat ID quiz: clockwise from top left: Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 2, Cat 1 (The image below is a screenshot of moments in the videos above that show some helpful ID features – note, for example, the mark on Cat 2’s elbow.)
Written by: Olivia Feldman is a PhD candidate in Justine Smith’s lab at the University of California – Davis. Olivia researches how wildlife, livestock and people interact in Argentina’s Patagonia region, and how these dynamics shape human-wildlife conflict. Having grown up and worked in Latin America and South Asia where people, livestock and wildlife all share space, Olivia is passionate about integrating people into how we study wildlife to improve conservation outcomes for both. All videos and photographs here are her own, taken during research conducted in collaboration with Rewilding Argentina at the Portal Isla Leones reserve from the Patagonia Azul reserve system.
References
[1] Pereira, Javier A.; Lucherini, Mauro; Cuyckens, Griet An Erica; Varela, Diego; Muzzachiodi, Norberto. (2019). Leopardus geoffroyi. En: SAyDS–SAREM (eds.) Categorización 2019 de los mamíferos de Argentina según su riesgo de extinción. Lista Roja de los mamíferos de Argentina. http://doi.org/10.31687/SaremLR.19.143
[2] “Generalist and Specialist Species.” Accessed July 4, 2024. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/generalist-and-specialist-species.
[3] “Leopardus geoffroyi (gato montés – Geoffroy’s Cat) | SIB, Parques Nacionales, Argentina.”
[4] D’Agostino, R. L., & Udrizar Sauthier, D. E. (2024). Trophic ecology of Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) and mammal prey availability in semi-arid environments of central Patagonia, Argentina. Mastozoología Neotropical, 31(2), 001–011. https://doi.org/10.31687/saremMN.24.31.02.03.e0915
[Edited by Alice Michel & Isabel Kier]