Leopardus pajeros (Desmarest, 1816) (Carnivora: Felidae) in Northern Peru: first record for the department of Piura, at the Mangroves San Pedro de Vice, and geographic extention

Álvaro García-Olaechea,Jorge Novoa Cova,César Chávez-Villavicencio

doi:10.15560/9.6.1596

Abstract

On October 1st, 2006, at the Mangroves San Pedro de Vice –MSPV (Sechura, Piura - Peru) the first visual record of Leopardus pajeros was made in the southern part of the area (05°31’09” S, 80°53’28” W). Subsequently, between August and December of 2010, different tracks were recorded. On December 4th, 2010, the first photographic record was taken at the MSPV with two nights/trap, being the first record for Piura department, the westernmost coordinates, the lowest altitude above sea level (0 m), and the first associated with a wetland in Peru.

Highlights

Leopardus pajeros feeds on rodents, small birds and some plants (Romo 1965; Fajardo et al 2010)
García-Olaechea et al | Leopardus pajeros in Piura, Peru there are notable species of mammals, such as the pampas cat that is presented for the first time for the region in this article
On December 3rd, 2010, a camera-trap was placed near the area of the first record of tracks, along the borders of a small lake belonging to the tidal channel (05°31’05” S, 80°53’34” W)

Summary

Introduction

Leopardus pajeros feeds on rodents, small birds and some plants (Romo 1965; Fajardo et al 2010). Some authors (Bagno et al 2004; Sánchez-Soto 2007) have indicated that L. pajeros prefers low areas with high grass in or near swamps and marshes (similar to the Mangrove swamp of San Pedro de Vice), data on its closest species, L. braccatus, from Emas National Park in Central Brazil, shows that L. braccatus prefers drier, short grassland habitat far from water (Cabrera and Yepes 1960 apud Silveira et al 2005).

Results

Conclusion