| The most common wild cat of South America, | | | | birds, small mammals, insects and fish. They |
| Geoffrey's cat, alongside puma, is one of the | | | | are good swimmers and agile climbers and are |
| most southerly of all cats. Discovered by the | | | | often seen residing in trees, preferring a |
| nineteenth century French naturalist Geoffrey | | | | habitat of underbrush as seen in tropical |
| St Hilaire, it is nearly the size of a | | | | rain forests. |
| domestic cat with length nearing two feet | | | | |
| (excluding a one foot tail) and weight around | | | | Attempts at breeding the Geoffrey's cat with |
| 5-10 lbs. Oncifelis Geoffroyi, it is seen in | | | | domestic felines have been largely |
| countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and | | | | unsuccessful. In the wild, gestation lasts |
| Paraguay. | | | | nearly two and a half months after which two |
| | | | to three kittens are born that mature at a |
| Color and size vary through its range. The | | | | prodigious rate, being able to stand at four |
| northern cats are smaller and have a reddish | | | | days of age and climb trees at few weeks. |
| yellow base color whereas the cats in south | | | | Females are the sole parents and take extra |
| of their range are larger with a grayish fur. | | | | care in choosing the birthplace. Totally |
| Coat is marked by small dark spots that | | | | mobile at six weeks, kittens gain |
| coalesce in upper body, neck and face to form | | | | independence at eight months. Owing to the |
| stripes. Undersides and chin are lighter and | | | | abundance of prey, rapid maturation of |
| tail has black bands. Eyes are set low with | | | | kittens and small individual ranges of |
| ears being black at the back with a central | | | | Geoffrey's cat in the wild, it is believed to |
| white spot. | | | | be one of the most populous of all wild cats |
| | | | in southern hemisphere - however it is also |
| A solitary, primarily nocturnal cat, the | | | | the most hunted - with nearly 150,000 pelts |
| Geoffrey's cat is a versatile hunter and | | | | traded annually. Though not endangered at the |
| preys on a variety of animals including | | | | moment it may soon be! |