I’m hoping for help with an ID.
I’ve just returned from a trip to Ecuador. At San Isidro, a private reserve on the eastern Andean slopes (approx. 2000m, cloudforest, nearest towns Baeza and Cossanga) we saw a cat cross the road at
around 19:00 and then hunker down in thick vegetation. It was mostly grey, possibly with some striping and impressions were larger than a domestic cat. Its face didn’t look right for domestic cat. Please see the only photos I could get. The lodge manager insisted on Jaguarundi, but I don’t think so. Could this be a Pampas Cat, something else or just a very strange domestic cat?
Thanks in advance
James
I agree with your assessment.
Pampas Cat seems plausible. The facial markings, grey coat and banding on the legs support that ID. Shame we can’t see the tail. Could be a domestic cat of course,(especially if human habitation is nearby). But definitely not a Jaguarundi.
I agree with Steve although lean a bit more toward domestic cat.
Fiona
I have just come back from spotlighting in San Isidro and saw this cat, in the clear and it’s a domestic cat. 100% there were 2 or 3 hanging around.
Thanks very much guys! Alright then, a domestic cat, that was my initial thought, but then the exotic location started people wondering. Thank again.
Interesting discussion – I am no expert but glad to have my own hunch confirmed – it does have the air of a domestic cat that has been disturbed while out hunting. Surprised the lodge manager thought it was a jaguarundi…
Hi there. I just asked my buddy Mitch Lysinger who is perhaps the person who knows the most about wildlife at San Isidro. He says it is a domestic cat, and that they see them there from time to time.