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Kodkod (Güiña) - Leopardus guigna
Topic Started: Jan 7 2012, 08:05 PM (2,856 Views)
Taipan
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Kodkod (Güiña) - Leopardus guigna

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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Leopardus
Species: Leopardus guigna

The Kodkod (Leopardus guigna), also called Guiña, is the smallest cat in the Americas and also has the smallest distribution, being found primarily in central and southern Chile and marginally in adjoining areas of Argentina. In 2002, the IUCN classified the kodkod as Vulnerable as the total effective population size may be fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, with a declining trend due to habitat and prey base loss and persecution, and no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 1,000 mature breeding individuals.

Characteristics
The Kodkod has a small head, large feet, and a thick tail. An adult weighs 2 to 2.5 kilograms (4.4 to 5.5 lb), with a typical length of 37 to 51 centimetres (15 to 20 in), a short 20 to 25 centimetres (7.9 to 9.8 in) tail, and a shoulder height of about 25 centimetres (9.8 in).

The coat has a base color ranging from brownish-yellow to grey-brown. The body is decorated with dark spots, with a pale underside and a ringed tail. The ears are black with a white spot, while the dark spots on the shoulders and neck almost merge to form a series of dotted streaks. Melanistic kodkods with spotted black coats are quite common.

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Distribution and habitat
Kodkods are strongly associated with mixed temperate rainforests of the southern Andean and coastal ranges, particularly the Valdivian and Araucaria forests of Chile, which is characterized by the presence of bamboo in the understory. They prefer evergreen temperate rainforest habitats to deciduous temperate moist forests, sclerophyllous scrub and coniferous forests. They are tolerant of altered habitats, being found in secondary forest and shrub as well as primary forest, and on the fringes of settled and cultivated areas.

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They range up to the treeline at approximately 1,900 m (6,200 ft). In Argentina, they have been recorded from moist montane forest, which has Valdivian characteristics, including a multi-layered structure with bamboo, and numerous lianas and epiphytes.

Ecology and behavior
Kodkods are equally active during the day as during the night, although they only venture into open terrain under the cover of darkness. During the day, they rest in dense vegetation in ravines, along streams with heavy cover, and in piles of dead gorse. They are excellent climbers, and easily able to climb trees more than a meter in diameter. They are terrestrial predators of birds, lizards and rodents in the ravines and forested areas, feeding on Southern lapwing, Austral Thrush, Chucao Tapaculo, Huet-huet, domestic geese and chicken.

Male kodkods maintain exclusive territories 1.1 to 2.5 square kilometres (0.42 to 0.97 sq mi) in size, while females occupy smaller ranges of just 0.5 to 0.7 square kilometre (0.19 to 0.27 sq mi).

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Reproduction
The gestation period lasts about 72–78 days. The average litter size is one to three kittens. This species may live to be about 11 years old.

Threats
The major threat to the kodkod is logging of its temperate moist forest habitat, and the spread of pine forest plantations and agriculture, particularly in central Chile. In 1997 to 1998, two out of five radio-collared kodkods were killed on Chiloe Island while raiding chicken coops.

Taxonomy
There are two known subspecies of this cat:

  • Leopardus guigna guigna - Southern Chile and Argentina
  • Leopardus guigna tigrillo - Central Chile

The Kodkod was formerly considered a member of the genus Oncifelis, which consisted of three small feline species native to South America. All of these species have been moved into the genus Leopardus. Along with the Kodkod, the former members of Oncifelis were the Colocolo and Geoffroy's Cat.
Edited by Taipan, Jan 20 2018, 12:56 PM.
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Taipan
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Hope for threatened 'little tiger cat'

By Helen Briggs
BBC News
19 January 2018

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Güiñas are considered pests by some people as they can steal chickens

It's the smallest cat in the Americas, occupying the smallest area of land.

Listed as vulnerable to extinction, the güiña wildcat of Chile has lost much of its natural home as forests are chopped down or converted to farmland.

And, like many carnivores, it's at risk from human persecution over fears it might kill livestock.

However, new research shows the animal is able to survive near human settlements on agricultural land.

Its biggest threat is being squeezed out when land is broken up into smaller areas, say conservationists.

The guiña is known variously as the little tiger cat, little spotted cat or Chilean cat. About half the size of the domestic cat, it is one of the most threatened cat species in South America.

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Güiña wildcat spotted on a camera-trap

The wildcat lives only in central and southern Chile and in a narrow strip of Argentina. According to the IUCN, there are only about 10,000 individuals left in the wild.

Its natural habitat is rainforest, but it has also been seen in pine or eucalyptus plantations or close to agricultural areas.

Research led by the University of Kent, UK, found that habitat fragmentation, and the subdivision of large farms into smaller ones, are the biggest threats facing the animal.

"This is because there is a higher risk of human interaction and persecution in areas where there are more farms; a greater pressure on natural resources through increased timber extraction and livestock grazing; and even competition for food from domestic animals kept as pets," said Dr Nicolás Gálvez, who is now a lecturer at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

More than two-thirds of Chile's temperate rainforests have been lost over 25 years. However, through a series of questionnaires, camera-trap data and remote-sensed images the researchers found that the güiña is remarkably adaptable to forest loss.

They say large, intensive agricultural areas are actually suitable for the güiña and should not be dismissed as poor quality habitat.

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The wildcat is found primarily in central and southern Chile

This is because there are often unfarmed areas that provide refuge, food resources and suitable conditions for rearing young, they say.

Another threat is illegal killing by humans. The cat is viewed negatively in rural areas over fears it will kill chickens.

Questionnaires showed that 10% of rural inhabitants had killed a güiña over the last decade.

"This suggests that persecution is much less of a threat to their survival than the subdivision of farms," said Prof Zoe Davies, from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent.

The research published in the Journal of Applied Ecology provides a clearer picture of how habitat loss, land fragmentation and human interactions together affect the survival of a species such as the wildcat.

The approach could be used to help with conservation efforts for small to medium-sized carnivores in other parts of the world.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42738079




Journal Reference:
Gálvez N, Guillera-Arroita G, St. John FAV, Schüttler E, Macdonald DW, Davies ZG. A spatially integrated framework for assessing socioecological drivers of carnivore decline. J Appl Ecol. 2018;00:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13072

Abstract
1. Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation are key threats to the long-term persistence of carnivores, which are also susceptible to direct persecution by people. Integrating natural and social science methods to examine how habitat configuration/quality and human–predator relations may interact in space and time to effect carnivore populations within human-dominated landscapes will help prioritise conservation investment and action effectively.

2. We propose a socioecological modelling framework to evaluate drivers of carnivore decline in landscapes where predators and people coexist. By collecting social and ecological data at the same spatial scale, candidate models can be used to quantify and tease apart the relative importance of different threats.

3. We apply our methodological framework to an empirical case study, the threatened güiña (Leopardus guigna) in the temperate forest ecoregion of southern Chile, to illustrate its use. Existing literature suggests that the species is declining due to habitat loss, fragmentation and persecution in response to livestock predation. Data used in modelling were derived from four seasons of camera-trap surveys, remote-sensed images and household questionnaires.

4. Occupancy dynamics were explained by habitat configuration/quality covariates rather than by human–predator relations. Güiñas can tolerate a high degree of habitat loss (>80% within a home range). They are primarily impacted by fragmentation and land subdivision (larger farms being divided into smaller ones). Ten per cent of surveyed farmers (N = 233) reported illegally killing the species over the past decade.

5. Synthesis and applications. By integrating ecological and social data, collected at the same spatial scale, within a single modelling framework, our study demonstrates the value of an interdisciplinary approach to assessing the potential threats to a carnivore. It has allowed us to tease apart effectively the relative importance of different potential extinction pressures for the güiña (Leopardus guigna), make informed conservation recommendations and prioritise where future interventions should be targeted. We have identified that human-dominated landscapes with large intensive farms can be of conservation value, as long as an appropriate network of habitat patches is maintained within the matrix. Conservation efforts to secure the long-term persistence of the species should focus on reducing habitat fragmentation rather than human persecution.
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Attached File A_spatially_integrated_framework_for_assessing_socioecological_drivers_of_carnivore_decline.pdf (1.37 MB)
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