Ask The Animal Lady

            The kodkod (Leopardus guigna) (Spanish pronunciation: [koðˈkoð]), also called güiña, is the smallest felid species native to the Americas. It lives primarily in central and southern Chile, as well as marginally in adjoining areas of Argentina. Its area of distribution is small compared to the other South American cats. Since 2002, it has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List as the total population may comprise less than 10,000 mature individuals; it is threatened by persecution, and loss of habitat and prey base. The major threat to the kodkod is logging of its temperate moist forest habitat, and the spread of pine forest plantations and agriculture, particularly in central Chile. In 1997 to 1998, two out of five radio-collared kodkods were killed on Chiloé Island while raiding chicken coops

            The fur color of the kodkod ranges from brownish-yellow to grey-brown. It has dark spots, a pale underside and a ringed tail. The ears are black with a white spot, while the dark spots on the shoulders and neck almost merge to form a series of dotted streaks. Melanistic kodkods with spotted black coats are quite common. It has a small head, large feet, and a thick tail. Adult kodkods are 15 to 20 in. in head to body length with a short 7.9–9.8 in. tail and a shoulder height of about 9.8 in. Weight ranges between 4.4 and 5.5 lb.

The kodkod is associated strongly with mixed temperate rainforests of the southern Andean and coastal ranges, particularly the Valdivian and Araucaria forests of Chile, which is characterized by the presence of bamboo in the understory. It prefers evergreen temperate rainforest habitats to deciduous temperate moist forests, sclerophyllous scrub and coniferous forests. It is tolerant of altered habitats, being found in secondary forest and shrub as well as primary forest, and on the fringes of settled and cultivated areas. It ranges up to the tree line at approximately 6,200 ft. In Argentina, it has been recorded from moist montane forest, which has Valdivian temperate rain forest characteristics, including a multi-layered structure with bamboo, and numerous lianas and epiphytes.

Kodkods are equally active during the day and during the night, although they only venture into open terrain under the cover of darkness. During the day, they rest in dense vegetation in ravines, along streams with heavy cover, and in piles of dead gorse. They are excellent climbers, and easily able to climb trees more than a meter in diameter. They are terrestrial predators of birds, lizards and rodents in the ravines and forested areas, feeding on southern lapwing, austral thrush, chucao tapaculo, huet-huet, domestic geese and chicken.

Male kodkods maintain exclusive territories 0.42 to 0.97 sq mi in size, while females occupy smaller ranges of just 0.19 to 0.27 sq mi.).

Fun Facts for Kids

• The kodkod’s common name has come from the Araucanian Indians. In Chile and Argentina “guigna” is the common name.

  Kodkods are carnivores, eating mostly small rodents, reptiles, large insects, birds, and domestic poultry.

  Kodkods are excellent climbers and can climb trees that are 3 feet in diameter.

  Melanistic forms of kodkods, which are completely black, are commonly found in the wild.

  The Kodkod’s excellent sense of smell is used to seek food and avoid predators.

  Some biologists have suggested that the kodkod may, in fact, be a subspecies of Geoffroy’s cat, which is more numerous.

  Cat tongues are rough because they being covered with rows of bumps, called papillae, for scraping meat off bones and hair off hides. These papillae also help to hold water on a cat’s tongue when it drinks.

  The pupils of the small cats, including the kodkod, close to vertical slits, whereas the pupils of the big cats close to circles, the same way humans’ pupils close.

  Across the top of the nose, right above their wet tip, small cats all feature a little strip of leathery skin, whereas in big cats, this part is covered with fur.

  Big cats like to stretch out at rest, but small ones prefer to curl up with paws tucked under them and the tail wrapped around the body, similar to your house cat.