The Ocelot

by: Nicolas Rossi

Who is the Ocelot?

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The Leopardus Paradalis, more 

commonly referred to as the Ocelot, is a feline about double the size of the average house cat. Known for their beautifully dappled coat these nocturnal hunters can be seen preying on rabbits, rodents, lizards, and birds with their pointed fangs and sharpened back teeth. Unlike most felines they do not avoid water, as they can swim very well. Ocelot's have an average lifespan of 10-13 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity with their litters yielding one to three offspring. They can way up to 35 pounds, and be upwards of 4 feet long, and are divided into 11 subspecies based on different populations. For more information on the ecology of ocelots visit https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/ocelot.pdf.

 

Habitat And Population

Ocelots geographic range

Ocelots in the U.S.

Ocelot’s can most often be found in subtropical areas, located from southern Texas, through Central America and into northern Argentina, with few spotted in Arizona.They inhabit various habitats ranging from humid tropical forests, savannas and dry scrub to swamp forests and coastal mangrove. They require dense vegetation, meaning upwards of 75% for a canopy cover, and 95% of shrub layer in Texas. While population of the Ocelot is an estimated 800,000 to 1.5 million globally, the Texas population resides at less than 50 Ocelots, found in two different populations in southern Texas, making them extremely endangered in the U.S.

Threats on Existence

Ocelot Pelt

The primary threat to Ocelots population, currently, are habitat conversion, fragmentation, and habitat loss. In Texas up to 95% of the shrub-land that the Ocelot once called home has been converted to agriculture, range-lands, and urban land use. This along with the isolation from other populations in Mexico causing inbreeding are the current reasons for the decline in ocelot populations. When originally listed, the Ocelot faced great threats of commercial exploitation along with illegal hunting. The ocelots highly sought after decorative coat resulted in many ocelots being slain for sake of fashion. Although minimal hunting continues, we have since seen the harvest and export of Ocelots decline as a direct result of CITES. (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Speies).

Recovery plan

Originally listed in 1982 the ocelot is listed as endangered throughout its range in the western hemisphere. The main goal of the recovery plan is to delist the ocelot with a downgrade to threatened as a current objective. The recovery plan for Ocelots calls for the protection of their habitats and populations along borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico, with a primary focus on reducing the amount of human populations and settlements in the areas considered to be the ocelot's habitat. The plan also looks to maintain and improve the health and genetic diversity of the population. It also looks to maintain long term success of ocelot conservation through partnerships, involvement from the community, education, outreach, and application of regulations. Finally, the plan seeks to continue management in which recovery is monitored and tasks of need are revised by USFWS. The ocelot will be considered delisted when the populations south of Tamaulipas and Sonora have been reeevaluated by the IUCN cat specialist group, and continue to qualify for "least concern" for 10 years after this reevaluation, along with populations being stable or increasing. If recovery efforts are carried out and fully funded , the criteria for down listing could be met by 2030.

Ocelot in its habitat

How you can help?

By visiting defenders.org/ocelot you can check out different ways to get information, stay up to date on their current status, and how you can take action to help preserve the ocelot. Possible actions to help with the preservation of this beautiful animal can be adopting an ocelot, sending a message to government leaders expressing your disconcern, and donating money to help fight the cause!

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Baby Ocelot

References

http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/100826.pdf

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/ocelot/

https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/ocelot.pdf

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/texas/explore/mammals-ocelot.xml