The kodkod (Leopardus guigna), also called güiña, is the smallest felid species native to the Americas. It lives primarily in central and southern Chile, as well as marginally in adjoining areas of Argentina. Since 2002, it has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List as the total population may be less than 10,000 mature individuals; it is threatened by persecution, and habitat loss and prey base.
The kodkod's fur color ranges from brownish-yellow to grey-brown. It has dark spots, 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. It has a small head, large feet, and a thick tail. Adult kodkods are 37 to 51 cm (15 to 20 in) in head to body length with a short 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in) tail and a shoulder height of about 25 cm (9.8 in).[3] Weight ranges between 2 and 2.5 kg (4.4 and 5.5 lb).[4]
The kodkod is 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. It prefers evergreentemperate rainforest habitats to deciduous temperate moist forests, sclerophyllous scrub and coniferous forests. It is 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.[4]
It ranges up to the treeline at approximately 1,900 m (6,200 ft).[14] In Argentina, it has been recorded from moist montane forest, which has Valdivian temperate rain forest characteristics, including a multi-layered structure with bamboo, and numerous lianas and epiphytes.[15]
Kodkods are equally active during the day and 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.[3]
Male kodkods maintain exclusive territories 1.1 to 2.5 km2 (0.42 to 0.97 sq mi) in size, while females occupy smaller ranges of just 0.5 to 0.7 km2 (0.19 to 0.27 sq mi).[16]
The kodkod has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List as the total population may be less than 10,000 mature individuals.[1] It is threatened foremost by logging, which entails the spread of pine forest plantations and agriculture, particularly in central Chile.[4] In 1997 to 1998, two out of five radio-collared kodkods were killed on Chiloé Island after raiding chicken coops.[17]
On May 15, 2020, National Geographic announced that the kodkod was the milestone 10,000th animal photographed for The Photo Ark, bringing the project about two-thirds of the way toward completion.[18]
^ abcdNowell, K. & Jackson, P. (1996). "Kodkod Oncifelis guigna (Molina, 1782)". Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. pp. 115–116. Archived from the original on 2008-11-12.
^Molina, G. I. (1782). "La Guigna Felis guigna". Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chilli. Bologna: Stamperia di S. Tommaso d’Aquino. p. 295. Archived from the original on 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
^Schinz, H. R. (1844). "F. Tigrillo. Pöppig". Systematisches Verzeichniss aller bis jetzt bekannten Säugethiere, oder, Synopsis Mammalium nach dem Cuvier'schen System. Erster Band. Solothurn: Jent und Gassmann. p. 470.
^Cabrera, A. (1958). "Dos felidos argentinos ineditos (Mammalia, Carnivora)". Neotropica. 3 (12): 70–72.
^Hemmer, H. (1978). "The evolutionary systematics of living Felidae: Present status and current problems". Carnivore. 1 (1): 71−79.
^Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z. & Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group"(PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 57−58.
^Miller, S.D. & Rottmann, J. (1976). Guia para el reconocimiento de mamiferos chilenos [Guide to the recognition of Chilean mammals] (in Spanish). Santiago: Editora Nacional Gabriela Mistral.
^Dimitri, Milan J. (1972). [The Andean-Patagonian forest region: general synopsis] (in Spanish). Colección científica del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria 10.
