There are 18 species of wild cats in the Americas which includes the continents of North and South America:
- 2 big cats (Jaguar and Puma)
- 2 small cats in North America (Bobcat and Canada Lynx)
- 14 small cats primarily in South America (the small spotted cats of the Leopardus genus and the Jaguarundi)
The taxonomy of the Leopardus group changes from time to time so this number of cats will vary. The Jaguarundi and some of the Leopardus species also occur in Central America and even Mexico (technically North America), however their primary range is in South America.
Here are some interesting news items about these smaller American cats from October to December 2024. Click on the publisher's name (eg On Mongabay) to read the full article.
This post will be updated regularly so be sure to subscribe to notifications to get the updates (click on the red bell bottom right).
Updates: 4 Dec, 20 Nov, 6 Nov, 16 Oct 2024
For news about the big cats Jaguars and Pumas see:
Small Cats of North America in the News
The two small wild cats that occur on the continent of North America are the Bobcat (Lynx rufus) and the Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis).
Some South American species have the extreme edges of their ranges in Central America, Mexico and some marginally into the USA.
News on any of these cats in their North American regions will be included in this section.
In addition, collaboration between the Service and state, Tribal and federal partners resulted in a newly proposed Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) recovery plan ...
Defenders of Wildlife is at the heart of ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) conservation in Texas and supports the effort to connect critical ...
Though seldom seen by people, Lynx rufus is the most successful small wildcat in North America. “Bobcats are in the process of a large-scale ...
On Mongabay
... for establishing an additional ocelot (Leopardus pardalis pardalis) population in unoccupied ocelot …
Research article in Ecosphere
The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a mid-sized forest carnivore that lives in parts of northern North America, including northern Minnesota ...
On Outdoors with Bear Grylls also on BroBible
A fascinating new study has shed light on the mysterious population dynamics of the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in Alaska's interior, revealing ...
Bobcats, scientifically known as Lynx rufus, are a species of small wild cats native to North America. In Boulder, Colorado, these elusive ...
Small Cats of South America in the News
The fourteen small cats of South America comprise the Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and the thirteen cats of the Leopardus genus: the Ocelot, Margay, Pampas Cats (x5), Andean Cat, Tiger Cats (x3), Guiña and Geoffroy's Cat (as at Nov 2024).
You may not have heard of an Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita), a small wildcat that lives in the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, ...
On Outdoors
The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is by far and away the most common species of feline that I record with my camera traps ...
On Tico TImes (including a video of his camera trap footage)
Until 2021, Leopardus colocola was considered a species distributed across much of South America ... however .. restricted in its distribution to the central-northern region of Chile ...
Research article on Revista Peruana de Biologia and English abstract
The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is one the least studied felids in South America ... we report the reddish phenotype for the first time in the biome ...
Research article in Mammalia
This study provides novel insights into the ecology of the margay (Leopardus wiedii), focusing on its occupancy, density, and activity patterns in the Madre de Dios region, Peru, by utilizing both arboreal and terrestrial camera traps ...
Research article in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
The mammals photographed at the most sites were mountain lion (Puma concolor), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), bobcat (Lynx rufus), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), coatimundi (Nasua narica), coyote (Canis latrans), collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), and jaguar (Panthera onca) ...
Research article in Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science
Kodkod or Güiña. An image of a kodkod cat in the wild. A kodkod, known to be the smallest felid species in all of the Americas. These are ...
On Forbes
The Neotropics are a global biodiversity hotspot ... The carnivores are the jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), margay (Leopardus wiedii) ...
Research article in Global Ecology and Conservation
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