In the Central Andes in Peru, wildcats and people share the mountain slopes
The Quechua people of South America are members of several Indigenous groups who speak one of the Quechua languages. Some Quechua people live in the Central Andes mountains in Peru. There they share the local mountain slopes with several wildcat species, including the Andean cat, the puma, and the Peruvian desert cat (also called the pampas cat).
People and cats share a habitat called Queuña forests, named after the local Queuña trees. Queuña trees are indigenous to the Andes mountains and adapted to cold temperatures and high elevations. Queuña forests are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the Andes. Logging, overgrazing, road construction, and wildfires have reduced the forest to just 1-3% of their original area.
Hungry wildcats find new source of food
Because there is less Queuña forest habitat, wildcats are forced to come closer to Quechua communities in search of food. This meeting of wildcats and humans creates conflict. As their natural habitat is lost, so is their natural prey, like deer and vizcachas, rodents of the Andes that look like rabbits. To survive, wildcat species start eating domestic animals, like chickens and guinea pigs. The people who lose their animals get angry with the cats.
Women, who care for domestic animals often witness these conflicts. In many rural Quechua villages across the Andes, men typically seek work in the cities. Women remain in the village, raising children and tending to chickens and guinea pigs. They also shepherd herds of alpacas, which are grazed on the mountain slopes and in the forests. Villagers depend on livestock for food and other products. Each year, the families sell alpaca wool and meat to merchants, providing essential household income.
“We thought [the wildcats] were bad animals,” Quechua village resident Alicia Ccaico says. “We were losing our chickens and guinea pigs to the small cats in the village, and the pumas were killing our alpacas in the mountains.”
In order to stop the cats, Quechua men organized puma hunts and set snares for the smaller cats upon their return from the cities. The skins of dead “problem” cats were hung on walls as trophies. The cat skins were incorporated into costumes traditionally worn in the dances during the carnival period between February and March.
Scientists and local women work together to help solve human-wildcat conflict
In 2021 Quechua conservation biologist Merinia Mendoza Almeida began studying the feeding behavior and daytime activity of wildcats in the forests that surround the village of Licapa. She set camera traps on nearby trails and soon captured images of the Peruvian desert cat and pumas. She also captured an elusive Andean cat.
“When I checked the photos, I was so happy that I was shouting, ‘Cat, cat, cat!’ into the wind,” she says.
Merinia’s excitement went away when she was shown the skin of a desert cat, which had been killed in retaliation for raiding a household’s guinea pigs. The death of one of her research subjects marked a turning point in Merinia’s project. “It was a sad day. I wanted to study these animals, I didn’t want to see them killed,” she says.
Local women were also pleading with Merinia to do something about the cats, especially the pumas. That’s what pushed the scientist to start looking for a way to stop the conflict between people and wildcats.
Merinia reached out to scientists Cindy Hurtado and Jim Sanderson for advice. They suggested that local women could work together to solve human-wildcat conflict. So in 2022, Merinia began a group called Mujeres Quechua por la Conservación (Quechua Women United for Conservation).
The group held monthly meetings where the women of Licapa could share their experiences and learn about the role of wildcats in the ecosystem.
“The talks made us realize we were also at fault, and that by caring for the cats and the forest, we’re caring for our other resources, like water,” local Sandra Ayasca says.
Before long, the meetings had become an important part of Licapa life, with more than 30 local women participating in the new conservation program. They often join Merinia in her fieldwork, assisting with camera traps.
“It became a community really fast; the women were curious and enjoyed the fieldwork,” Merinia says. “It’s something different that they’ve never experienced, and they like it.”
The solution to human-wildlife conflict with small cats was simple. Chicken and guinea pig corrals were repaired with wire and wood, or new ones were constructed. This measure has reduced conflict.
Stopping puma attacks required a different approach. The group had to find alternatives to grazing alpacas on the mountains where pumas hunted.
The group obtained a variety of grass seeds resistant to the cold temperatures of the Andes. Then they planted pastures for alpacas behind houses and on the outskirts of the village. The new pastures have reduced puma attacks on alpacas, according to local people.
“We don’t need to take our alpacas into the mountains as much as before, so we don’t lose as many of them now,” Sandra says.
The community is beginning to value the wildcats differently. Several walls in the village now feature colorful murals of women and wildcats. Safety signs have been installed on dangerous roads to help protect cats and village children.
Merinia hopes that coexistence between the community and wildcats will be long-lasting. “Whatever activities we do, the women’s children are always close by, so the next generation is already participating in conservation in Licapa,” she says.
“Recently, I went up into the mountains to set a camera trap with one of the women and her 7-year-old boy. We were going to test it when the boy said, ‘No, I’ll do it,’ and he did and started to mimic an Andean cat,” Merinia says. “It’s moments like that that give me hope for the future.”
David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids. It is based on an article by James Hall, published on Mongabay News:
