In the high Andes, camera traps have once again captured a rare inhabitant — the Andean cat, or “the ghost of the Andes.” These images from Argentina and Chile, taken in 2025–2026, show not only solitary animals but also a female with a kitten in the Mendoza area, as well as repeat detections near La Payunia Reserve.
The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) is the most vulnerable wild feline in the Americas. Its population is estimated at no more than two thousand individuals. The animal prefers rocky peaks, where it hunts mountain viscachas, but new data confirm that it also needs the lower valleys to move between its territories.
In Chile, monitoring in the Cajón del Maipo area showed that the cats use lowland areas as corridors. Local residents and climbers set up cameras and obtained valuable footage. In Argentina, collaboration among scientists, communities and herders has been recording the species’ presence near protected areas for the third year in a row.
Such observations are important not only for counting animals. They reveal how fragmented mountain ecosystems depend on landscape connectivity. Without protection of the valleys, populations risk becoming isolated, which reduces their chances of survival.
Conservation efforts include monitoring, educating farmers and creating special-management zones. The first results — the appearance of kittens on camera — suggest that working together is having an effect.
These rare frames are a reminder: even the most elusive species can return if humans leave them space to live.
