Chile

Valparaiso Foundation

The mission of the Valparaiso Foundation is to develop projects that trigger an urban renaissance in Valparaiso as a cultural heritage and tourism city. To achieve our goals, we develop sustainable programs with seed money from international foundations, private and corporate donors, and competitive grants from the Chilean public sector. Our foundation defines itself as a pluralistic civic organization that does not pursue political agendas or ideological objectives.

 

Andean Cat Alliance (Alianza Gato Andino)

The Andean Cat Alliance, Alianza Gato Andino (AGA), works to protect the Andean cat in all four range countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru). Conservationists from these countries, as well as from the United States, created the Alliance in 2004. Collaboratively, they review current threats to the cat and coordinate their conservation activities.

AGA's integrative approach has yielded groundbreaking accomplishments, including:

• first capture and radio-collaring of an adult-female Andean cat
• first photographs of Andean cats in Argentina
• use of camera trapping and DNA analysis of feces to confirm the Andean cat's presence in three additional departments in Peru and one additional province in Argentina
• completion of cat diet studies in Bolivia and Peru, yielding important
• information on prey abundance and preferences

The Andean cat is the most endangered cat species in the Americas. It is also one of the most rare and least known felines worldwide. In the last 25 years there have been fewer than 10 documented sightings of this small carnivore, which lives exclusively in the remote high-altitude deserts of the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. In addition to natural rarity and habitat loss, the prime threat to the survival of the Andean cat is direct persecution by humans. Some local residents kill the Andean cat because they consider it dangerous to humans and domestic animals, though it is only slightly larger than domestic cats. Other local people use stuffed cats and skins in traditional dances and religious ceremonies and believe that killing a cat will bring good fortune.