Elusive Andean Cat Guides Her Kitten in Rare Trail-Cam Footage

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, plus Argentina’s northern Patagonian steppe. If that’s the case, it’s not surprising, since Andean cats are one of the rarest wildcats in the Americas and one of the most endangered feline species in the world. Trail-cam footage from Chile showing an Andean cat and her kitten is therefore rare and cherished by those who study these cats in the wild.

Videos by Outdoors

Bernardo Segura Silva and the nonprofit Alianza Gato Andino, which focuses on protecting Andean cats, are conducting a long-term monitoring project in the area above Santiago. Trail cams occasionally capture their target species, and scientists use the footage to learn more about Andean cats’ behavior, population density, and range.

“Of the thousands of videos recorded by trap cameras there is always one gem, a video in which many incredibly rare elements are combined and reveals true secrets of nature that otherwise would be almost impossible for us to see,” wrote Silva in his Instagram post sharing the trail-cam video.

This particular footage is sweet, since it shows an Andean cat mother and her baby walking together across some rocky terrain.

See a rare Andean cat and her kitten on a trail cam here:

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A post shared by Bernardo Segura Silva (@bernardosegurafoto)

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