The guiña is along with the Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) the most threatened cat species in South America, and the only carnivore endemic to the Patagonian Andean forests. The guiña is classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and in Argentina, while in Chile it is considered Vulnerable from Los Ríos Region to the north and Near Threatened from Los Lagos Region to the south. In Argentina, the National Parks Administration considers this species of “special value”, and it is included among the high-priority species to conserve. Because of the little attention received and its high vulnerability, the guiña was highlighted as a main research priority in Argentina, but in spite of this priority, few studies have been conducted and a lot of information about this forest cat remains uncertain.

Using a theoretical metapopulation approach it was estimated that the guiña population is divided into 24 subpopulations in central Chile. 

The guiñas northern range in central Chile is inhabited by more than half of the country's total human population which dramatically reduces the available habitat. In its southern range, its status seems to be more stable since human density is lower and more protected areas are in place. In Argentina, the guiña inhabits exclusively the Patagonian National Parks' jurisdiction, and its populations occur in low densities and are probably suffering local extinction processes but the factors and threats involved are still ignored.

The guiña has the smallest range of any new world felid inhabiting around 160,000 km². It occurs only in central and southern Chile (30°-48° S) and in a narrow strip of south-western Argentina (39°-46° S west of 70°W), including some offshore islands such as Isla Grande de Chiloé. The guiña is found up to an elevation of 2,500 m and is sympatric with the Geoffroy’s cat only in its eastern range limit in Argentina. In Argentina, the guiña is also sympatric with the puma (Puma concolor) in forest ecosystems.

Vegetation cover is an important ecological requirement for the guiña as it typically occurs in forest types with heavy understory. In its southern range, it is strongly associated with moist temperate mixed forests of the southern Andean and Coastal ranges, particularly the Valdivian and Araucania forests of Chile. A characteristic of these forests is the occurrence of southern beech (Nothofagus spp.) and bamboo in the understory. In south-west Argentina it is found in the Andean Patagonian forest. In its northern range, it inhabits Mediterranean matorral and is found more in sclerophic forest and thicket. In Argentina guiñas have also been recorded within Subantarctic forests and Valdivian-like montane forest with bamboo structures, lianas and epiphytes. Radio-collared individuals were also observed to make particular use of forest edges. Forest patches that were smaller than 0.5 km² were used relatively rarely.

Guiñas seem to be relatively tolerant of altered habitat and are also recorded in secondary forest, pine or eucalyptus plantations, semi-open habitats or close to agricultural areas.  Nevertheless, guiñas are not observed using or crossing grazed pasture with vegetation <0.4 m high. Guiñas were observed crossing open habitat only up to distances of 100 m to reach suitable habitat patches again. Thus, it is assumed that vegetation cover corridors are important to connect larger habitat areas.

Activity patterns of the guiña possibly vary in different regions and even with coat coloration. It can be active at day and night. Melanistic individuals showed stricter nocturnal activity than spotted ones. The guiña is a good climber, escaping to trees when threatened and it likes to shelter in trees during inactive periods. Guiñas also rest in dense cover near waterways and in thick piles of ground-level vegetation or quila thickets. Daily distances covered by radio-tracked guiña were up to 1.8 km in Torres del Paine and Queulat National Parks, and a maximum of 13.9 km in a fragmented landscape on the northeastern coast of Chiloé Island, revealing its high and facultative dispersal ability. Guiñas are agile hunters and mainly hunt on the ground.

Home range size of guiñas is 0.3-2.2 km² in Torres del Paine and Queulat National Parks, and 1.3-22.4 km² in a fragmented landscape on the northeastern coast of Chiloé Island. Average home range size in the Chilean Araucanía region was 6.23 km². The ranges of males are often larger than those of females. Male and female home ranges overlap largely whereas home ranges of individuals of the same sex are exclusive. However, a radio-collar study in 2004 in Chile found spatial overlap both within and between sexes. Gestation period lasts about 72–78 days.

The guiña is included in Appendix II of CITES and fully protected in Argentina and Chile.

The preservation of native vegetation corridors is required to provide connectivity between forest fragments or larger forested areas. Human populations and deforestation are increasing in the Chilean temperate rainforest and climate change may be an emerging additional threat. National Parks in Chile are mainly established at higher elevations in the Andes (>800 m) whereas the guiña is also found at lower elevations. Thus, the conservation of guiñas in private lands outside protected areas has gained special relevance for the long-term persistence of its populations. A positive attitude of land owners towards guiñas is required.

Long-term conservation challenges for the guiña outside protected areas will depend on the increase of local awareness to reduce conflict in areas where they are considered poultry pests, improving chicken coops and highlighting the services provided by its role as controller of mice - carriers of Hanta virus - and exotic European hares (Lepus europaeus).

A future challenge would be to elucidate the potential pathological effect and emerging disease risk both FIV and FeLV infections may have for guiña populations.

More information about the ecological requirements, demographics, natural history, threats and the status of the guiña is needed, along with continuous population monitoring to enable accurate long-term conservation measures.