Presence of Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) in an agroecosystem of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

GUIDOBONO J. S.; GARRAMONE M.; MUSCHETTO E.; BUSCH M.

Mendoza

Congreso; X International Mammalogical Congress; 2009

Geoffroy’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) is a little poor -known South American felid. Most of its range includes arid and semi-arid environments, but it also uses a wide range of habitats including grasslands, open forests, and wetlands. Geoffroy’s cat has been described as an opportunistic predator, feeding mainly on small rodents and waterbirds in the Pampas grasslands of Argentina. The goal of the present study was to assess if the Geoffroy’s cat is present in an area characterized by the presence of small woodlots within a cropfield matrix.  The study was carried out in the Exaltación de la Cruz Department, north-west Buenos Aires province, Argentina. The study area is devoted to agricultural activities like culture of corn, sorghum, wheat, soybean, sunflower, and to the poultry farming. We looked for cat scats within the woodlots and recorded the characteristics of the woodlots and of the surrounding fields. We only found Geoffroy’s cat signs in old woodlots with trees of medium and large size, like the Ombú (Phytolacca dioica L.) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sp.). These trees had the fork between one and two meters of height and, in general, were pruned or broken making additional surfaces that were used by the Geoffroy’s cat. We found L. geoffroyi’s scats in 8 out of 33 woodlots inspected in 3 areas of 25 m2 each one, confirming that it can use this small forest patches.