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Distel, A.; Di Bitetti, M.S.; Cirignoli, S.; Di Blanco, Y.E.; Pereira, J.A.
The last stronghold of Mu¤oa's Pampas cat (_Leopardus munoai_) in Argentina?
2023  Journal for Nature Conservation (74): 126449

The Mu¤oa's Pampas cat (_Leopardus munoai_) is a relatively understudied species restricted to open savannas and grasslands of Southern Brazil, Uruguay and NE Argentina, that has been recently split from the broader "Pampas cat" species complex. Only three documented records of the species have been published since the year 2000 for the Argentine portion of its distribution, a situation that led to speculations regarding its conservation status in Argentina. We conducted an intensive camera-trap survey (2,067 camera-trapping stations and 15,560 camera-trapping days) to assess the presence of the Mu¤oa's Pampas cat in an area of 275.3km2 within the Iber  National Park and the adjacent Iber  National Reserve, Corrientes province, Argentina. Four records of Mu¤oa's Pampas cat were obtained, representing at least two adults and one young individual. Only one camera-trapping record of this species had been previously obtained in Argentina, during a survey carried out in 2009 in the same study area, despite an important camera-trapping effort in the Corrientes province. All camera-trap records of Mu¤oa's Pampas cat in Argentina are concentrated in areas of temporally flooded grasslands locally known as "Malezales", suggesting that this habitat type is critically important for the conservation of this rare felid. The Iber  National Park and the adjacent Iber  National Reserve provide the adequate framework for the conservation of an important piece of habitat for Mu¤oa's Pampas cat and constitute a stronghold for the species in Argentina.

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