Happy World Geoffroy's Cat Day! Today is the first annual day celebrating the Geoffroy cat.
The Geoffroy cat, or Leopardus geoffroyi, weighs between seven and fifteen pounds and eats mostly rodents, rabbits and small mammals, reptiles and small vertebrates, and insects and invertebrates (Panthera meet the small cats, 2021). These small cats are found in South America, particularly in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chie, Paraguay and Uruguay (Geoffroy’s cat learn, 2021). This small cat shares its habitat with two big cats, the jaguar and puma.
They roam a variety of habitats from dense vegetation, semi-arid, pampas grasslands, marsh grasslands, broad-leafed forests, savannas, dry shrublands, arid woodlands, semi-desert and arid steppe uplands ((ISEC Canada Geoffroy’s cat, 2018). These cats can also be melanistic.
These cats are currently listed as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List with a stable population. The biggest threat facing Geoffroy's cats are habitat loss from infrastructure and livestock and climate change (Geoffroy’s cat learn, 2021). From the 1960s to 1980s they were heavily exploited for their skins (ISEC Canada Geoffroy’s cat, 2018).
The Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation and scientist Dr. Flávia P. Tirelli partnered together to create the Geoffroy’s Cat Working Group (GCWG). It is estimated that there are about 90 Geoffroy’s cats in the United States (Geoffroy’s cat conservation, 2021). The Feline Conservation Foundation is currently working on creating a studbook to keep track of the breeding program and genetics of these cats. If you work with Geoffroy’s cats in captivity please email Kylie Reynolds at Kylie@amazinganimalsinc.org to get more information about this program.
Visit the Geoffroy’s Cat website to learn more about these cats and the research being done in the field. Buy a Geoffroy’s Cat t-shirt to support Geoffroy’s cats in the wild and raise awareness for this small cat. Make sure you celebrate World Geoffroy’s Cat Day every January 28th!
Animalogic. (2020, October 2). Salt cat: The ghost of South America [Video]. YoutTube.
Geoffroy's Cat (2021). Conservation. http://www.geoffroyscats.com/conservation.html
Geoffroy's Cat (2021). Learn. http://www.geoffroyscats.com/learn.html
Geoffroy’s Cat (2020, November 26). Geoffroy’s cat caught on trail cam roaming the Pampa Biome of Brazil! [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIErb0dFq1l/
Geoffroy’s Cat (N.D.). [Melanistic Geoffroy cat] [Photograph]. Geoffroy’s Cat.
International Society for Endangered Cats Canada (2018). Geoffroy’s cat.
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. (2021). Geoffroy’s cat: Leopardus geoffroyi. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15310/50657011
Panthera. (2021). Meet the small cats.
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