Family: Felidae, Cats view all from this family
Description A medium-size, slim cat. Grayish to tawny or gold, heavily marked with black-bordered brown spots that tend to form lines. Spots include rosettes, rings, speckles, slashes, and bars. Tail fairly long, but shorter than hindleg. L 3'1"-4'6" (92-137 cm); T 10 5/8-16" (27-40 cm); HF 5 1/4-7" (13-18 cm); Wt 20-40 lb (9.1-18.2 kg).
Endangered Status The Ocelot is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Arizona and Texas. The Ocelot population has declined drastically because of the loss of its habitat to agriculture and residential development, deliberate eradication by farmers trying to protect small livestock and poultry, and the trade in exotic furs and pets. The species is now fully protected in the U.S., and the trafficking of skins and the selling of live Ocelots as pets are banned. These cats require large expanses of densely brushed habitat, which is hard to come by in southern Texas, where the last U.S. cats are found. Efforts are underway to restore Ocelot habitat in the Rio Grande Valley, but whether this handsome animal can be saved in the U.S. remains to be seen. (The Ocelot still survives, though in small numbers, in Mexico.)
Similar Species Jaguar is much larger and marked almost entirely with rosettes. Margay is smaller, with similar coloration and markings; has longer tail, longer than hindleg.
Breeding 1 litter of 2-4 young born after gestation of 70 days; births fall-winter in Texas.
Habitat Forested or brushy areas and dense chaparral.
Range Southern Texas and extreme se Arizona. The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, along the Rio Grande in s Texas, offers the best opportunities for seeing the Ocelot in the wild.
Discussion The Ocelot climbs well and silently, and sometimes even catches birds perched in trees. Its principal foods include mice, rats, rabbits, birds, snakes, lizards, fish, frogs, and young or small domestic animals. A good swimmer, it occasionally hunts along streams. Ocelots are usually solitary but sometimes travel and hunt in pairs, probably as mates, maintaining contact and signaling each other with meows like those of domestic cats. Mother Ocelots have often been killed as humans captured their kittens, which, while affectionate and easily tamed when young, become unpredictable and sometimes dangerous when mature.
