Leopardus pajeros ( Desmarest , 1816 ) ( Carnivora : Felidae ) in Northern Peru : First record for the department of Piura , at the Mangroves San Pedro de Vice , and geographic extention

On October 1st, 2006, at the Mangroves San Pedro de Vice –MSPV (Sechura, Piura - Peru) the first visual record of Leopardus pajeros was made in the southern part of the area (05°31’09” S, 80°53’28” W). Subsequently, between August and December of 2010, different tracks were recorded. On December 4th, 2010, the first photographic record was taken at the MSPV with two nights/trap, being the first record for Piura department, the westernmost coordinates, the lowest altitude above sea level (0 m), and the first associated with a wetland in Peru.

Álvaro García-Olaechea1,2* César Chávez-Villavicencio 1 and Jorge Novoa Cova 2 Leopardus pajeros (Desmarest, 1816) (Carnivora: Felidae) in Northern Peru: First record for the department of Piura, at the Mangroves San Pedro de Vice, and geographic extention authors (Bagno et al. 2004;Sánchez-Soto 2007) have indicated that L. pajeros prefers low areas with high grass in or near swamps and marshes (similar to the Mangrove swamp of San Pedro de Vice), however, data on its closest species, L. braccatus, from Emas National Park in Central Brazil, shows that L. braccatus prefers drier, short grassland habitat far from water (Cabrera and Yepes 1960 apud Silveira et al. 2005).
The Mangroves San Pedro de Vice (MSPV) is located on the Pacific Coast of the district of Vice, province of Sechura, Piura, Peru (05°29'-05°33' S, 80°52'-80°54' W), with an extension of 3,013 ha (Figure 1).It presents six habitats, from east to west: (1) a forest of Prosopis trees, dominated by scattered Prosopis pallida, with Colicodendron scabridum and Acacia macracantha, with an extension of 500 ha; (2) a desert area, devoid of vegetation, with an extension of 2,000 ha; (3) an area of 100 ha with grama grass and scattered Carob trees; (4) a mangrove forest (Laguncularia racemosa and Avicennia germinans) on both sides of the tidal channel, with an area of 193 ha; (5) a tidal channel with borders that flood, with an area of 120 ha; and lastly, (6) a sandy beach with about 100 ha.The average elevation is 5 m, the region is characterized by an extremely dry climate with very little precipitation (less than 50 mm/year), and the annual average temperature is 26°C (The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 2010).
Presently, the MSPV has three international denominations: it is considered a RAMSAR Wetland (The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 2010).It is also considered an Important Bird Area -IBA PE012 (BirdLife International 2011).Finally, it is a member of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN 2010).Regardless of the international denominations, it lacks legal recognition from the Peruvian State, which would elevate it to the status of a protected area within the country.All three international denominations are based on the abundance and presence of migratory, threatened and endemic bird species in this wetland.Nonetheless,  there are also notable species of mammals, such as the pampas cat that is presented for the first time for the region in this article.
The first record of L. pajeros inside the MSPV corresponds to a visual record made on October 1st, 2006, in a visit by members of the Centro Neotropical de Entrenamiento en Humedales (CNEH).The individual was observed on a sandy substrate between the grama grass and the mangrove on the south side of the area (05°31'09" S, 80°53'28" W), walking into the mangrove forest.Subsequently, three groups of tracks were found in four visits between August and December of 2010.The first one was made 300 m to the north of the visual record, the second one was made to the south of that point (05°32'12" S, 80° 52'15" W) and the third one to the north (05°30'25" S, 80°53'4" W).The tracks were found covering an approximate distance of 3.8 km, consistently occurring close to mangrove and grama grass.On August 15th, 2010, two parallel paths of footprints (spaced by 30 cm) were observed (Figure 2), which may indicate the presence of at least two individuals.
On December 3rd, 2010, a camera-trap was placed near the area of the first record of tracks, along the borders of a small lake belonging to the tidal channel (05°31'05" S, 80°53'34" W).In the next day, between 07:00 and 17:00 h, the camera-trap recorded the species, confirming the presence of L. pajeros inside the MSPV (Figure 3).
Our records represent solid evidence of Leopardus pajeros in the department of Piura (Northwest coast of Peru), located approximately 170 km north from where it was recorded by Cossíos et al. (2007a) (cited by these authors as Lynchailurus colocolo) at Batán Grande dry forest of the department of Lambayeque, making our record the current northernmost record for L. pajeros in Peru.Historically, the northernmost record of L. pajero corresponds to the Zarumilla area, department of Tumbes, on the northwestern tip of Peru, located approximately 230 km north from this record, where Grimwood (1969) recorded it from 100 to 200 m (Figure 4).Although there is no new data for the species in Tumbes, we may assume that it continues inhabiting the region since it is distributed to Ecuador, where the habitat is suitable.More research is needed to validate these speculations.In addition, our finding is also the westernmost record for L. pajeros, the lowest altitude above sea level (0 m), and the first associated with a wetland in Peru.Acknowledgments: A special thanks to Daniel Cossíos, who kindly provided us the camera trap and reviewed the note, to Diego García-Olaechea, who also provided input on the note, to Jessica Gilbert and Natalia Piland who checked the English version, to the District Municipality of Vice for their support, to Luiggy Quevedo, who saw with us the first traces of the pampas cat in August 2010, and to Karlom Herrera, Antonio García-Bravo, Frank Suárez and Danny Silva for their enthusiasm and company at the time of placing the camera-trap, and lastly to everyone who ever accompanied us to Mangroves San Pedro de Vice.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Leopardus pajeros walking inside the mangrove forest, along the borders of a small lake belonging to the tidal channel (December 4th, 2010).

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Map of distribution of Leopardus pajeros in Peru, showing the new record at Mangroves San Pedro de Vice.Source: Fajardo and Pacheco 2011.