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Video
Watch
this footage of the first tag and release
of this rare species (requires
free RealPlayer)
> tagging and exam
> release
> roaming (shaky camera)
> roaming (best quality)
video copyright © 2004 Wildlife
Conservation Network,
All Rights Reserved.
More Andean Cat News
Get details on the expedition from the Wildlife
Conservation Network.
Check these previous stories on Tull's sponsorship
of the Andean Cat and other wild felines.
Reception raises $15K
Cat fundraiser funds study
Major Breakthroughs in Andean Mountain Cat Conservation
from Fan Sponsored Research
Over the past four years, Tull fans have graciously funded support for
one of Ian's favourite, deserving causes: preservation of the many endangered
wild cat species across the globe. Donations via special events and Amazon® commissions
from Tull site sales are over $ 25,000 to date.
One special project has been the Andean mountain cat: (Oreailurus jacobita)
is one of the five most endangered cats in the world and probably the
rarest
wild
cat
in
South
America. Very little is known about this small carnivore that lives exclusively
in the remote high-altitude deserts of the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia,
Chile and Peru.
A new expedition, funded partly by the Ian
Anderson private performance in San Jose in 2002, has made a major
breakthrough: the first live capture and radio collaring of the rare
cat.
Only recently members of the newly created
Alianza Gato Andino (AGA) or Andean
Cat
Alliance,
including Eliseo Delgado, Lilian Villalba, Constanza Napolitano and Jim
Sanderson, captured and radio-collared the first Andean mountain cat.
Jim's 
email
from the field gives the details: "At Khastor Lagoon,
Bolivia on April 23rd at 11:10am we captured and radio-collared an adult
female Andean mountain cat. She was fully recovered in two hours and
successfully released, running from the trap at full speed." Moments
later they observed
an adult male but did not capture him.
The historic events occurred one week after the first AGA meeting in
Arica, Chile where representatives from all four range countries (Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile and Peru) gathered to review current threats and collaborate
on future conservation efforts. During the meeting, AGA members drafted
a conservation action plan to save the rare and endangered Andean cat.
The action plan will be published by September and used as the foundation
for all future conservation initiatives.
> more photos, additional information
note: material for this story provided by permission
of the Wildlife Conservation Network®. All rights reserved.
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