Pampas cat
Leopardus colocola (Molina, 1782)
The pampas cat (Leopardus colocola) is a mammal of the family Felidae, subfamily Felinae, in the order Carnivora, and is also called the Colocolo or Chilean Pampas cat. It is a medium-sized animal with an adult body mass of 2.95 kg.
Quick facts about the pampas cat
The IUCN Red List classifies it as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category, and its reported lifespan is up to 19.6 years.
- Weight
- 2.95 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 19.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forest, grassland, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the pampas cat
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the pampas cat live?
Not recorded
What is the pampas cat?
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), the Pantanal cat (L. braccatus), and the Pampas cat (L. pajeros) with a more restricted definition. This split at species level was not supported by subsequent phylogeographic analysis, although some geographical substructure was recognised, and some authorities continue to recognise the Pampas cat as a single species. In the 2017 revision of felid taxonomy by the Cat Specialist Group, the Pampas cat is recognized as a single species with seven subspecies. An analysis of 142 skins collected across South America revealed morphological differences between these museum specimens. It was therefore proposed to recognize five distinct species within the Pampas cat complex.
From the Wikipedia article “Pampas cat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pampas_cat&oldid=1383004506), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the pampas cat endangered?
The pampas cat is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the pampas cat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyFelidae
- genusLeopardus
- SpeciesLeopardus colocola (Molina, 1782)
Synonyms Felis colocola, Felis colocolo, Leopardus colocola colocola, Leopardus colocolo, Leopardus colocolo colocolo, Lynchailurus colocolo, Oncifelis colocolo
Other names and names in other languages (36)
- Central Chilean colocoloEnglish
- Central Chilean colocoloEnglish
- Central Chilean Pampas catEnglish
- Chilean Pampa catEnglish
- Chilean Pampa catEnglish
- Chilean Pampas catEnglish
- ColocoloEnglish
- ColocoloEnglish
- Pampas se KatAfrikaans
- كولو كولوArabic
- قط البامبا التشيليArabic
- kočka pampováCzech
- PampaskatzeGerman
- Südliche PampaskatzeGerman
- Αγριόγατα του ΠαντανάλGreek
- osioSpanish
- Gato Colo-ColoSpanish
- gato de los pajonalesSpanish
- Gato de los pajonales o ColocoloSpanish
- gato de pajonalSpanish
- Gato pajeroSpanish
- Chat des pampasFrench
- csíkos pampamacskaHungarian
- コロコロJapanese
- 콜로콜로Korean
- PampaskattNorwegian Bokmål
- GraskatDutch
- PampaskatDutch
- KolokoloPolish
- ocelot pampasowyPolish
- Gato-palheiroPortuguese
- Пампасская кошкаRussian
- แมวปัมปัสชิลีThai
- Pampa kedisiTurkish
- КолоколоUkrainian
- 南美草原貓Chinese
Relatives of the pampas cat
Other species in the same genus Leopardus.
Ocelot
Leopardus pardalis
Oncilla
Leopardus tigrinus
Margay
Leopardus wiedii
Kodkod
Leopardus guigna
Geoffroy's cat
Leopardus geoffroyi
Tilcayo
Leopardus tilcayo
ComparePampas cat vs OcelotPampas cat vs OncillaPampas cat vs MargayPampas cat vs Kodkod
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the pampas cat?
The pampas cat is a mammal of the family Felidae in the order Carnivora. It belongs to the genus Leopardus.
How heavy is a pampas cat?
An adult Pampas cat weighs 2.95 kg, which places it in the medium size class (1 to 25 kg).
What does the pampas cat eat?
The pampas cat is a carnivore.
Is the pampas cat endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classifies the pampas cat as Near Threatened, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a pampas cat live?
The pampas cat has a reported lifespan of up to 19.6 years.
Is the pampas cat nocturnal?
Yes. The pampas cat is nocturnal and terrestrial.
Who named the pampas cat?
The pampas cat, Leopardus colocola, was named by Molina in 1782, written as (Molina, 1782).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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CreatureData. (2026). Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/leopardus-colocola
“Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/leopardus-colocola.
@misc{leopardus_colocola_2026,
title = {Pampas cat (Leopardus colocola)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/leopardus-colocola},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}