It looks like an unusually large house cat or an unusually small lynx — but it's actually called a colocolo, or a Pampas cat. And in an exceedingly rare and special moment, it recently approached a trail camera, delighting scientists. Outdoors.com reported on the serendipitous moment.
The footage itself was captured by the Colocolo Project (@colocoloproject), a conservation group dedicated to this indigenous Chilean cat. They posted the footage on Instagram to much delight.
"So handsome!" one commenter enthused. "Great shot!" another wrote.
Fortunately for the colocolo cat, they're not endangered in the wild; that said, their status with the IUCN's Red List of endangered species is currently at "near threatened." Either way, the small wild cat is highly elusive and rarely documented, so scientists and conservationists are always thrilled to catch a glimpse in hopes of better understanding the species.
Species like the colocolo cat face a myriad of threats, even in protected areas. As the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation explained on their website, these could include bush-meat hunting and poaching, feral dogs with federal protections, and retaliation for eating free-ranging domestic poultry and livestock, among others.
But even a cat with a relatively small footprint — pun intended — plays a significant role in the health and biodiversity of its ecosystem, and any species loss can lead to major disaster through a series of events known as a trophic cascade.
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For example, a study in the removal of starfish in Washington's tidal pools led directly to a loss of biodiversity and plant life, resulting in a dangerous monoculture of mussels, Rewilding Britain explained.
The loss of wolves in Yellowstone is another famous example, where the loss of one species literally reshaped the landscape and endangered the stability of an entire ecosystem. Their reintroduction triggered a major reversal of those negative impacts through a positive trophic cascade, helping the entire area thrive.
In order to avoid more negative impacts and cascades, groups like the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation work to preserve the wild populations of cats like the colocolo.
And ultimately, this work benefits both the cats and the humans living near them. As they explained on their website, their methods include building secure henhouses, training guard dogs to protect livestock, and supplying rural communities with food in order to reduce poaching.
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