Pampas cat

The Pampas cat (Leopardus pajeros) is a small cat native to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and possibly far southwestern Colombia. It is named after the pampas, but occurs in grassland, shrubland, and dry forest at elevations up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft).

It has traditionally been included in the colocolo (L. colocolo), but was split primarily based on differences in pelage colour/pattern and cranial measurements. The split is not supported by genetic work, leading some authorities to maintain it as a subspecies of the colocolo. Confusingly, when the colocolo includes the Pampas cat and Pantanal cat as subspecies, the "combined" species is sometimes referred to as the Pampas cat.

The Pampas cat is currently classified as "Near Threatened" in the IUCN Red List as habitat conversion and destruction may cause the population to decline in the future.

Pampas cats have not been studied much in the wild and little is known about their hunting habits. There have been reports of the cat hunting rodents and birds at night, and also hunting domestic poultry near farms.

Pampas

The Pampas (from Quechua pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American lowlands, covering more than 750,000 km² (289,577 sq mi), that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba; most of Uruguay; and the southernmost Brazilian State, Rio Grande do Sul. These vast plains are a natural region only interrupted by the low Ventana and Tandil hills near Bahía Blanca and Tandil (Argentina), with a height of 1,300 m (4,265 ft) and 500 m (1,640 ft), respectively.

The climate is mild, with precipitation of 600 to 1,200 mm (23.6 to 47.2 in), more or less evenly distributed through the year, making the soils appropriate for agriculture. This area is also one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger Paraná-Paraguay Plain division. These plains contain unique wildlife because of the different terrains around it. Some of this wildlife includes the rhea, the pampas deer, several species of armadillos, the pampas fox, the white-eared opossum, the elegant crested tinamou, and several other species.

Pampas (disambiguation)

In English Pampas usually refer to the plains around Río de la Plata. Pampas may also refer to:

Species

Places

Other

See also