The guiña Leopardus guigna is the smallest felid in the Americas. The species is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a restricted distribution limited to the central and southern regions of Chile, some offshore islands and some areas of south-west Argentina. Two subspecies are recognized: Leopardus guigna tigrillo (in central and north-central Chile) and Leopardus guigna guigna (in south Chile and south-west Argentina). It inhabits sclerophyll forests and Mediterranean matorral in its northern range, and temperate rainforest in its southern range in Chile (particularly Nothopagus spp. forest) and Andean Patagonia Forest in Argentina. Threats to the guiña include habitat loss and fragmentation, and direct persecution by people.
Although some individuals of the Chilean endemic L. guigna tigrillo have recently been reported in the Coquimbo region (Napolitano et al., 2020, Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, 93, 7), there are no previous records north of Cerro Palo Colorado.
On 21 May 2024, during camera-trap surveys to monitor carnivores, we recorded the species for the first time in Huentelauquén, in the Coquimbo region, in a native forest patch on the southern bank of the Choapa River. The site is close to agricultural crops and c. 300 m from the Ramsar site Las Salinas de Huentelauquén. Although the diverse coastal ecosystems of this Ramsar site support a range of biodiversity, there are no previous records of the species in the area and this new record extends the range of L. guigna tigrillo c. 43 km northwards. The main threats to the guiña in this area are habitat loss and fragmentation caused by agriculture (primarily avocado crops), and rural poultry farms and domestic pets.
Camera-trap image of Leopardus guigna on 21 May 2024, expanding its known range northwards.
During our surveys we also recorded the pampas cat Leopardus colocolo and culpeo fox Lycalopex culpaeus. We noticed alopecic patches on one fox, an indicator of sarcoptic mange.
A genetic study described the guiña population at the northernmost limit of the species’ distribution range as genetically unique and isolated from other groups (Napolitano et al., 2014, Conservation Genetics, 15, 631–653). Further research must focus on this border population to determine appropriate conservation actions.
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