---
title: "Southern Pampas Cat"
description: "Leopardus pajeros — Mammals. The Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola) is a small wild cat native to South America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/southern-pampas-cat
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Pampas Cat

> Leopardus pajeros — Mammals. The Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola) is a small wild cat native to South America.

- Scientific name: *Leopardus pajeros*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `mountains` (Mountains), `savanna` (Savanna)
- iNaturalist observations: 56
- Wikidata: [Q311417](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q311417)
- iNaturalist taxon: [1240547](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1240547)

## Names

- en: Southern Pampas Cat
- de: Südliche Pampaskatze
- es: Gato del pajonal
- fr: Chat des pampas
- pt: Gato-dos-pampas

## Countries with the most observations

AR (48)

## Summary

The Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola) is a small wild cat native to South America. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as habitat conversion and destruction may cause the population to decline in the future.
It is named after the Pampas, but occurs in grassland, shrubland, and dry forest at elevations up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft).
There was a proposal to divide the Pampas cat into three distinct species, based primarily on differences in pelage colour/pattern and cranial measurements. Accordingly, three species were recognised in the 2005 edition of Mammal Species of the World: the colocolo (L. colocolo…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampas_cat

## Photo

![Southern Pampas Cat](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-pampas-cat/medium.jpg)

Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61527890

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/southern-pampas-cat?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).