Overview
- WCS Argentina verified the endangered Andean cat on camera traps in Malargüe for the third consecutive year, with images from a sector that had no prior confirmed records near the La Payunia protected area.
- Footage shows the small felid moving among dark volcanic rock, which explains why the species is so hard to detect even where it lives.
- Recent records in Mendoza and neighboring Neuquén point to La Payunia as a strategic stronghold for the species within its Patagonian range.
- Conservation partners recently bought and donated 40,000 hectares to the Province of Mendoza to expand La Payunia’s permanent protection and safeguard key habitat.
- WCS reports long‑term threats that include killing by producers, road collisions, loss of its main prey (the chinchillón), habitat damage from extractive activities, and climate change, while non‑lethal tools like reinforced corrals, lights, and guardian dogs have cut livestock losses and reduced retaliatory killing.