Geoffroy's cat
Geoffroy's cat in the Cincinnati Zoo
The Geoffroy's cat or cat salt, rarely Geoffroy Cat ( Leopardus geoffroyi geoffroyi or Oncifelis, named after the French zoologist Etienne Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire ) is a South American species within the cat family ( Felidae ).
Features
The size corresponds to the small spot of a large cat, male domestic cat. The body length is 60 cm, added 30 inch cock. The basic color of the fur is gray or yellow-brown, and in the south of the range of the gray and in the north appear the yellow animals. Drawn is the fur with small black spots. Frequently it comes to melanism ( Schwärzlinge ).
Habitat
The Geoffroy's cat lives in the southern half of South America, Bolivia and southern Brazil south to Patagonia. It comes just before the east of the Andes. Forests are also their habitat such as grassland stock of trees.
Way of life
To prey include hares and rodents. As she hunts for fish in the water, it is in South America also referred to as "fish cat " ( a designation that is reserved in the German language a completely different cat, fishing cat see ). The Geoffroy's cat is nocturnal and sleeps through the day in the trees.
Threat and protection
The fur of the cat small spot was popular for a long time in the Skinning for the production of fur coats. The Geoffroy's cat is now threatened with extinction, and therefore listed in the CITES Convention in Appendix A. Any trade is therefore now banned. This also includes the trading of individuals and the trading of used products manufactured from Geoffroy's cats, a. In the year before the entry into force of this protective provision were 5500 individuals (which was a tenth of the time known population ) were brought into the pet trade.
Taxonomy
As for the scientific name, there are discrepancies between Leopardus geoffroyi geoffroyi or Oncifelis. First, it was counted as Leopardus geoffroyi in the relationship of ocelots, but then rather grouped in the genus Oncifelis to still the pampas cat and the Chilean Forest Cat be expected. Wilson & Reeder (2005) eventually led to the genera Leopardus and Oncifelis to the genus Pardelkatzen ( Leopardus ) together.
Hybrid
Despite the different number of chromosomes the Geoffroy cat can be crossed with the domestic cat. The resulting hybrids are called Safari Cat and registered by TICA as an experimental breed.