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Colocolo (Leopardus colocolo)

Colocolo | Leopardus colocolo photo
Colocolo
Photograph by Cola da Web. License: GNU.


Description

The Colocolo is a small long-haired cat from Chile. The body is gray with brown stripes broken up into spots. These cats have fairly large pointed ears and a long bushy tail with dark bands. The Pampas Cat (Leopardus pajeros) used to be considered the same species as the Colocolo.

Other Names

Oncifelis colocolo

Size

Head and body length: 43cm - 70cm (average 57cm). Tail length: 22cm - 32cm. Weight: 3kg - 7kg (average 5kg).

Habitat

open woodland, scrub thicket, forest, semi-arid desert regions, floodplains, mountain slopes.

Food

The Colocolo feeds on small mammals and ground birds and eggs. Will take poultry in areas of human settlement.

Breeding

Gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens after a gestation of 80 to 85 days.

Range

Chile

Conservation Status

The conservation status in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "near threatened".



Classification
Class:Mammalia
Order:Carnivora
Family:Felidae
Genus:Leopardus
Species:colocolo
Relatives in same Genus
  Geoffroy's Cat (L. geoffroyi)
  Kodkod (L. guigna)
  Andean Cat (L. jacobitus)
  Pampas cat (L. pajeros)
  Ocelot (L. pardalis)
  Oncilla (L. tigrinus)
  Margay (L. weidii)