Data regarding FIV infections in South American wild felids are sparse and studies have concentrated primarily on Brazil. The presence of antibodies against FIV in puma, detected by Western blotting, was found in Argentina (5 in 22, 23%), Bolivia (5 in 5, 100%), Brazil (2 in 13, 15%), Peru (1 in 5, 20%) and Venezuela (4 in 8, 50%) [10] . Further studies have reported antibodies recognizing FIV and the puma lentivirus (PLV in Brazilian free-ranging puma) [6, 19] . Troyer et al. (2005) concluded that most of the South American felids maintain a low level of FIV infection throughout their population. Within wild populations, the seroprevalence in South American felids varies from 5 to 28%. Unfortunately, the authors did not describe the regions of the continent where the samples originated. FIV pol genes from a Peruvian and a Brazilian zoo puma have been sequenced, the former being classified as subtype B and the latter as a distinct group, neither A nor B [10] . Additionally, FIV provirus has been reported in Brazilian jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas, jaguarondis (Puma yagouaroundi), oncelots (Leopardus pardalis), margays (Leopardus wiedii), pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo), geoffroy's cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) and little spotted cats (Leopardus tigrinus) [20, 33, 55] . The finding of these FIV infected species highlights the need for additional monitoring. Although the implications of these infections for wild felid conservation are difficult to assess, it is generally accepted that monitoring these infections is an important component for the management of endangered populations [13] .