The Pampas cat Leopardus colocolo occurs in a variety of habitats from northern Ecuador to southern Argentina, yet the species has been poorly studied. There is scant information about its northern distribution or about populations in desert and dry forest. We aimed to determine the presence of the Pampas cat in the Sechura Desert and seasonally dry forest of north-western Peru and south-western Ecuador, identify threats to the species, and describe people's perceptions of it. Using 32 camera traps and compiling confirmed and unpublished records, we mapped the species’ distribution and identified 12 new localities, three in the Sechura Desert and nine in the dry forest. The first records of the Pampas cat in the Ecuadorian dry forest are reported from La Ceiba Natural Reserve and Jorupe Reserve; the northernmost record in the dry forest is from Cerros de Amotape National Park, Peru. In 56 semi-structured interviews with local people we found that most of them (76.8%) did not know the species; 61.5% of those who knew the species had a neutral perception and did not think the cat affected their personal activities. Here we update the northern distribution of the Pampas cat, describe threats to the species in arid ecosystems, and highlight the need for further studies to identify other possible threats and mitigation methods.

Few published records exist for the Endangered Andean mountain cat Oreailurus jacobita, a rare and little known felid restricted to high altitudes of the Andes of South America. We present 20 new records for the species, and analyse its altitudinal overlap with the sympatric pampas cat Oncifelis colocolo, a widespread habitat generalist, in north-west Argentina. Our data confirm the recent presence of the Andean mountain cat at several locations in Jujuy, Salta, and Catamarca provinces. Nevertheless, densities appear to be much lower than those of the pampas cat. This Lower Risk, near threatened species represented 68% of the records for small cats at high altitudes and its altitudinal range overlapped with the lower 1,000 m of the range of the Andean mountain cat. Protected areas for the Andean mountain cat in Argentina should be above 3,500 m and have a high proportion of habitat above 4,000 m, where the abundance of potential competitors is lower.