Guigna

		Guigna
		He is a wild animal


Origin			Chile and Argentina
Translation			Francis Vandersteen

The possession of this animal is not authorized Royal Decree establishing the list of mammals not kept for production purposes that may be kept (M.B. 24.08.2009)

The Guigna, also known as the Chilean Cat and Kodkod, is a feline of the genus Leopardus. America's smallest feline, the Guigna is characterized by a small head with round ears, a short, bushy tail and broad paws. Its fawn-grey to brown coat with black flecks is similar to that of Geoffroy's Cat.

A territorial and solitary feline, the Guigna is highly dependent on the forest: it has never been observed in habitats where the vegetation is less than forty centimetres high. Small rodents and lagomorphs form the bulk of its diet. It occasionally attacks farmyard birds.

Its range covers central and northern Chile and a small area of Argentina. The Guigna is mainly threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Poaching is the second biggest threat. Considered "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Guigna is protected throughout its range.

The Guigna is the smallest of America's wild cats. The length from head to base of tail is 40 to 52 cm, with a tail length of 19 to 25 cm. This feline weighs from 1.5 to 3 kg, averaging 2.2 kg, about half that of a domestic cat. Males are larger than females.

The head is rather small, with large, round ears set low on the skull. The thick, bushy tail is short, accounting for a third of the cat's total length.

The coat is studded with numerous small, rounded black spots on a grayish tan to brown background. The coat is lighter on the abdomen, always spotted. The throat is barred with a dark mark. The tail is ringed with ten to twelve black stripes. The spots form discontinuous bands on the shoulders and head. Facial markings consist of dark lines starting at the outer corner of the eye and crossing the cheeks, a white marking around the eye and two vertical black stripes running up the forehead from the top of the eye. The back of the ear is black, with a white spot in the center. Melanism is common; in this case, the mottled marking remains visible in bright light.

Color varies from region to region: in northern and central Chile, the hue is lighter, and in southern Chile more colorful. Melanism is more common in the north of the range. It is common on the island of Chiloé and the Guaitecas archipelago, in Queulat and Laguna San Rafael national parks and, in Argentina, in Neuquén province. The feet are spotted in the north of the range, but not in the south; in any case, the soles are black.

The Guigna is well adapted to climbing; it is able to climb trunks from five centimetres to over a metre in diameter; and it may use tree branches to stalk its prey in areas of very dense vegetation.

The Guigna is a hunter of small rodents, reptiles and birds. It hunts mainly on the ground. In Argentina, it hunts mice more frequently, while in Chile its diet is more varied. The Guigna is primarily a hunter of rodents, which make up at least 80% of its food bowl, such as the long-tailed pygmy rice rat, Bridges' stork and black rat. Other mammals in its diet include marsupials such as the Elegant Mouse-Opossum and lagomorphs, notably the Wild Rabbit.

Among its secondary prey are numerous species of birds, both low-flying and ground-nesting, such as the Southern Robin, Synallaxe rayadito, Lapwing tero, Tourco huet-huet, Tourco robin and domestic goose. Chiloe lizards and invertebrates such as Acanthinodera cumingii and scorpions also feature in its diet.

The Guigna attacks chicken coops and occasionally eats carrion. Cases of predation on nesting boxes suspended at human height have been observed in the south of central Chile: mostly taking place at night, if not at dusk or dawn, the capture rate (14%) and the type of birds captured (small cavity-nesting birds) probably indicate opportunistic behavior rather than a genuine hunting habit.