Ocelot (American Painted Leopard)

The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches 40–50 cm at the shoulders and weighs between 8 and 15.5 kg. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central, and South America, and to the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Margarita. Both sexes become sexually mature at around two years of age, they can breed throughout the year, though the peak mating season varies geographically. After a gestation period of two to three months, the female gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens. They stay with their mother for up to two years, after which they leave to establish their own home ranges.

The word "ocelot" comes from the Aztec word "tlalocelot," which means field tiger, according to the San Diego Zoo. Ocelots are also sometimes called painted leopards, because of their markings and dwarf leopards, because of their markings and their size. However, ocelots are only distantly related to true leopards or tigers. Leopards and tigers are members of the Pantherinae (roaring cats) subfamily, and ocelots are in the Felinae (small cats) subfamily.

The ocelot inhabits tropical forests, thorn forests, mangrove swamps, and savannas. They prefer habitats with good availability of prey and water and tend to avoid other predators. The ocelot favors areas with dense forest cover and water sources, far from roads and human settlement, avoiding steep slopes and highly elevated areas due to lack of prey. In areas where ocelots coexist with larger predators such as the cougar and human beings, they may tune their active hours to avoid them, and seek dense cover to avoid competitors. The ocelot can adapt well to its surroundings. The ocelot shares a large part of its range with the jaguar, jaguarundi, margay, oncilla, and cougar.

Typically active during twilight and at night, the ocelot tends to be solitary and territorial. During the daytime, it rests on trees, in dens below large trees, or other cool, sheltered sites on the ground. It is agile in climbing and leaping, and escapes predators by jumping on trees. The ocelot scent-marks its territory by spraying urine. The ocelot can be aggressive in defending its territory, fighting even to death.

Ocelots have been observed to follow scent trails to acquire prey. An ocelot typically prefers hunting in areas with vegetation cover, avoiding open areas, especially on moonlit nights, so as not to be seen by the prey. As a carnivore, it preys on small terrestrial mammals such as rodents, lagomorphs, armadillos, opossums, and also fish, insects, reptiles, and small birds. They also take to the trees and stalk monkeys or birds. Unlike many cats, they do not avoid water and can swim well.

Throughout its range, the ocelot is threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat. The habitat is often fragmented into small pockets that cannot support ocelots well, leading to deaths due to starvation. Traffic accidents have emerged as a major threat over the years as ocelots try to expand beyond their natural habitat to new areas and get hit by vehicles. In the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Argentina, it is affected by logging and poaching of prey species.

Twice the size of the average house cat, the ocelot is a sleek animal with a gorgeous dappled coat. The fur trade was a flourishing business in the 1960s and the 1970s that resulted in severe exploitation of felids such as the ocelot and the jaguar. In the 1960s, ocelot skins were among the most highly preferred in the US, reaching an all-time high of 140,000 skins traded in 1970. This was followed by prohibitions on the commercial trade of spotted cat skins in several range states such as Brazil and the US, causing ocelot skins in trade to plummet. In 1986, the European Economic Community banned the import of ocelot skins, and in 1989, the ocelot was included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, hunting of ocelots for skins has continued and is still a major threat to ocelot survival.

Another threat has been the international pet trade, this typically involves capturing ocelot kittens by killing their mothers, these cats are then sold to tourists. Though it is banned in several countries, the pet trade survives, in some areas of Central and South America ocelots are still sold in a few local markets.

Ocelot hunting has been banned in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad, and Tobago, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela; regulations have been placed on hunting in Peru. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and The Nature Conservancy are among the agencies actively involved in ocelot conservation efforts, such as the protection and regeneration of vegetation in the Rio Grande Valley.

#WildLife #Rainforest #DwarfLeopard

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