Guiña (Leopardus guigna)
The Guiña is one of the thirteen wild cats in the Leopardus family of cats. The small spotted cats of the Leopardus family are distributed throughout Central and South America.
The diminutive Guiña occurs primarily in Chile and a small part of Argentina. The cat, sometimes spelt as 'Guigna', is also known as the Kodkod or Chilean Wild Cat and is a forest dependant species.
The Guiña is the smallest cat species in the Americas weighing under three kilograms and is among the smallest cat species in the world.
Their Red List conservation status is Vulnerable and threats include logging of natural forests and fragmentation of the landscape for agriculture.
Small Wild Cats Audio - Coat Color
Listen to a short audio taken from a chapter in the book Small Wild Cats by well-known small cat conservationist Jim (James) Sanderson. Jim was one of the first to study Guiñas when hardly anything was known about them. He has been instrumental in forming the Guina Working Group as well as six other small cat working groups in the Neotropics.
This excerpt covers how small wild cats like the Guiña get their coat color and what causes black coats.
95 Observations of Guiñas on iNaturalist
There are currently 95 sightings of Guiña cats on iNaturalist including a few of melanistic cats, however sadly most are of roadkill.
iNaturalist is a global platform for the public to upload images of wild creatures they have seen in nature. If you have any photos of natural biodiversity from your travels, be sure to open an account and upload your images. Identification is verified by other members and the data can be used in future research. A great way to contribute to conservation and research!
Note there are images of dead animals in case you are a sensitive viewer.
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