Distribution and Habitat
It is one of the least-known and rarest of all felines; almost all that is known about it comes from a few observations in the wild and from skins. There are none in captivity. It is believed to live only in the high Andes mountains of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
There has been a substantial increase in research effort on the Andean mountain cat since Nowell and Jackson wrote that "it is not clear whether apparent rarity is a natural phenomenon, is attributable to human actions, or is simply a misperception resulting from lack of observations". Surveys since then have confirmed that the Andean cat is a rare species, occurring at lower densities in the same high-altitude environment as its close cousin, the Pampas Cat Leopardus colocolo. Across its range, it has a very low level of genetic diversity.
The Andean mountain cat's preferred high-elevation montane habitat is fragmented by deep valleys, and its distribution is likely to be further localized by the patchy nature of colonies of its preferred prey, mountain viscachas (Lagidium spp). The total effective population size could be below 2,500 mature individuals with a declining trend due to loss of prey base and habitat, persecution and hunting for traditional ceremonial purposes, and no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 250 mature individuals.
While the Andean mountain cat's main prey is likely the mountain viscacha, it is also probable that mountain chinchillas were previously important prey of the Andean mountain cat before their populations were drastically reduced due to hunting for the fur trade. Since it lives only in the high mountains, human-inhabited valleys act as barriers, fragmenting the population, meaning that even low levels of poaching could be devastating. They are often killed in Chile and Bolivia because of local superstition.
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