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Pampas cat (Leopardus pajeros)

Pampas cat | Leopardus pajeros photo
Pampas Cat at Cincinnati Zoo
Photograph by Mcelite. Some rights reserved.


Description

The Pampas Cat is a small wild cat from the Pampas of Argentina and Chile. It used to be considered a subspecies of the Colocolo (Leopardus colocolo). It is similar in appearance to a domestic cat but somewhat larger. Pampas cats have very thick rust brown fur or pale brown fur with brown bands and rosettes. Some individuals are all black. The fur can be up to 7 cm thick. The head is relatively small compared to the sturdy body. They have bushy tails. Pampas Cats are fairly widely distributed in South America.

Other Names

Grass Cat

Size

Length about 60cm. Tail length: about 30cm

Habitat

found in a wide range of habitat from grassland, scrub, woodland, forest to mountain habitat

Food

feeds on small mammals and birds at night

Breeding

A litter of one to three kittens is born after a gestation period of 80 to 85 days. The breeding season in the wild is unknown.

Range

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru.

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

Margay | Leopardus weidii photo
Leopardus pajeros, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
Photograph by Ltshears. License: Public Domain.