Meet the Animal Park's Geoffroy's Cats

NATIVE RANGE

They live in the southern part of South America in habitats from the Pampas grasslands to the Patagonian scrub to the Andes.

DIET

The Geoffroy’s cat is an opportunistic predator, feeding on whatever is most abundant. They eat reptiles, rodents, wild guinea pigs, hares, and other small mammals but also hunt in water for frogs and fish.

BEHAVIOR

Primarily nocturnal, as well as secretive and solitary, they use any available cover to avoid open spaces and spend some of their time in trees.

FASCINATING FACTS

• They are a small species averaging up to around 10 pounds, with a body up to around 30 inches long and tail up to around 15 inches, standing up to 10 inches tall. To scan their surroundings, they sometimes stand on their hind legs and use their tail to help them balance, a very unusual behavior for cats.
• They have either a black-spotted brownish or grayish coat or a melanistic coat that’s black with black spots.
• The Geoffroy’s cat is named for 19th-century French naturalist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.