A conservation group is celebrating after a years-long effort to find an elusive cat known as the “ghost of the Andes” has finally paid off.
Big Cat Rescue has posted footage on YouTube of a family of Andean mountain cats caught on film by a trail camera. In a post on Facebook, she described the scene as a “rare and heart-melting sight” and thanked the partner organizations involved. “We take a look at their secret lives – and a reminder why protecting their fragile habitat is so important,” the post said.
The Andean mountain cat is one of the rarest cats in the world, with fewer than 2,177 adult individuals, according to the Alianza Gato Andino. As the name suggests, cats are found at high altitudes across the Andes from Peru to Argentina. They are roughly the size of domestic cats and have thick, gray coats with brown markings that help them blend in with their surroundings.
The Andean mountain cat is sometimes mistaken for the more numerous Pampas cat that lives in some of the same areas – the former is distinguished by a black nose, dark coat, and bushy tail.
Their favorite dish is the mountain viscacha, a rather clumsy-looking rodent native to the Andes. Andean mountain cats help keep small prey populations in check and maintain the balance of the food web.
Unfortunately, they are very vulnerable to disturbance in their habitats. A combination of habitat destruction through mining and oil extraction, land clearing for agriculture, and a warming atmosphere has pushed them to the brink of extinction. They reproduce very slowly — as the videos showed, only one cat at a time — and the males need a large range to roam, so any population recovery will not happen overnight.
However, the exciting discovery is cause for optimism. As the organization pointed out, trail cameras are a wonderful tool for raising public awareness of endangered species. Furthermore, the knowledge gained makes for more effective conservation legislation based on accurate data. A trail camera removes human error from the equation and makes it possible to capture footage of the rarest of species.
The comments of the video expressed a sense of wonder and a desire to protect the cats.
“I’m glad to see them apparently in good health.” one viewer said.
Another commenter swooned: “OMG, they look so cute they almost look fake!”
One viewer pointed out the cat’s most distinctive feature: “So adorable and look at those beautiful tails.”
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