Hunting as a factor affecting the conservation of the endangered Andean cat in Argentina

MERINO MARIA JOSÉ; LUCHERINI MAURO; LUENGOS VIDAL ESTELA; SAVINI SIMONA; TAVERA GABRIELA

Brasilia, Brasil

Congreso; 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology; 2005

Society for Conservation Biology

The Andean cat (Oreailurus jacobita) is one of the most endangered felids in the world, but the factors affecting its conservation status are still little understood. Since 2001, during 5 expeditions to the Andes of Argentina, we carried out interviews to adults of 29 villages and young students of 14 rural schools to understand the perception and attitude of local villagers towards this felid. Despite most interviews did not show a negative perception of two smalls cats occurring in the high Andes, hunting of theses species is relatively widespread and can be seriously affecting its survival in Argentina. Therefore, in the same villages, we also carried 5 community meetings and formal and no-formal conservation activities, aiming to start reverting this situation. E final evaluation proved that school kids not only largely enjoyed and learnt from our activities, but also that their attitude was positively affected. The degree of adult participation to our meetings was estimated as low to medium, but we always found interest in economic incentives associated to the sustainable use of their cultural, natural and historic heritage, which can prove a tool to obtain greater community involvement.