Cute cats the size of kittens are seeing their homes destroyed

The smallest cat in the Americas

The smallest cat in the Americas

Courtesy of Nicolas Galvez

One of the world’s smallest and cutest wild cats is on the road to extinction, even though it is more resilient than most species.

Güiñas (Leopardus guigna), also known as kodkods, live in Chile and are the smallest cats in the Americas. They can weigh as little as 2-2.5 kilograms, half the size of most domestic cats.

Güiña populations are in decline and there could be just 10,000 adults remaining – half the number of lions left today. Nicolás Gálvez of the University of Kent, UK and his colleagues set out to find what was causing the decline.

Using questionnaires, camera traps and remote sensing, the team found that the biggest threat to güiñas is a change to the way farms are owned. Larger farms are being sold and split into smaller farms,