Ocelot - Sophie Richnak

Ocelot

Leopardus pardalis

By Sophie Richnak

 

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

Description and Ecology

The Ocelot is a medium sized, long tailed, spotted cat. The coloration of their base coat is usually tawny-yellow to reddish-gray and marked with black chain-like rosettes on its back and sides. There are also spots on the head, two black stripes on the cheeks, and several longitudinal black stripes on the neck. The tail is marked with dark bars or incomplete rings. Their body weight ranges between 7-16 kg with the males weighing more than the females.

Ocelots occupy a large variety of habitats that includes tropical forests, grasslands, mangrove forests and marshes. They usually can be found at elevations around 1,200 meters; although they have been seen at an elevation as high as 3,800 meters. They require a sufficient amount of dense cover to be hidden during the day because they are mostly a nocturnal mammal.

The Ocelot is a carnivorous animal who uses its keen eye-sight and hearing to hunt during the night. They hunt small to moderate-sized vertebrates such as rodents, rabbits, young deer, birds, snakes, lizards, and fish.  

https://wildcatconservationinc.org/ocelot/

They are mostly solitary animals, but do interact with other individuals frequently. Unlike most cats, they are fond of water and are very strong swimmers; although, like all feline species, they are agile climbers.

Geographic and Population Changes

Historically, ocelot populations in the United States could be found in Florida, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, and California from evidence of fossil findings. Today, the only ocelot populations in the U.S. can be found in the southernmost parts of Texas and Arizona. There are current ocelot populations found in the range of the coasts of Mexico to Central America, Ecuador and northern Argentina. The ocelot is also from Trinidad and Isla de Margarita in Venezuela.

https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Ocelot%20Final%20Recovery%20Plan_Signed_July%202016_new%20(1).pdf

Listing Date and Type of Listing

The ocelot is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 throughout its range in the western hemisphere where it is distributed from southern Texas and southern Arizona through Central and South America into northern Argentina and Uruguay. They were listed as endangered on 03/28/1972 under the Southwest Region (Region 2). USFWS wrote the original Recovery Plan which was approved on August 22, 1990 and first revised in July 2016.  

Current Ocelot Range Map

http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=11509

Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence

(As stated in USFWS recovery plan for ocelots)

The greatest threat to the survival of the ocelot in the U.S. is the present or threatened destruction, modification, or degradation of its habitat/range.

•  Mostly due to agriculture (farming, cattle-ranching)
• Urban development
•  Mining development
• Deforestation

This results in further land and habitat fragmentation and decreasing opportunities for habitat restoration.

Another threat to ocelots is overexploitation for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes

-          Ocelots were imported for the pet trade and were heavily exploited for their pelts. However, the commercial trade for their skins dropped significantly when the commercial export of wildlife was outlawed in many countries.

-          Subsistence hunting

-          Shooting of the ocelot for the suspicion of them killing their livestock

-          Poaching

-          By-catch from private operations of predator control and fur-trapping

Other threats:

-          Predation from mountain lions, coyotes, alligators, domestic dogs

-          Mortality due to vehicular collisions

-          Loss of genetic variability from inbreeding and the result of being a small population

Description of Recovery Plan        

This recovery plan considers the ocelot throughout its range, but its major focus is on two cross-border ocelot populations between the U.S. and Mexico which are the Texas-Tamaulipas Ocelots and the Arizona-Sonora Ocelots. The goal of the recovery plan for these ocelots is to restore and protect the ocelot and its habitat so that its long-term survival is secured and it can be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species. This plan is a challenging because there is limited knowledge of the status of the species in much of its range, and the USFWS lack the resources and authority to gather a significant amount of research for the recovery of the entire species. However, this can be fixed by establishing a framework to better understand the status and conservation needs of ocelots for recovery throughout their range. The following list are the recovery actions stated from the Ocelot Recovery Plan by USFWS for ocelots on the U.S./Mexico border.

1. Assess, protect, and enhance ocelot populations and habitat in the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico.
2. Reduce the effects of human population growth and development on the ocelot.
3. Maintain or improve genetic fitness, demographic conditions, and health of the ocelot in borderland populations.
4.   Assure the long-term success of ocelot conservation through partnerships, landowner incentives, community involvement, application of regulations, and public education and outreach.
5. Practice adaptive management in which recovery is monitored and recovery tasks are revised by USFWS in coordination with Recovery Team as new information becomes available.
6.  Support efforts to ascertain the status and conserve ocelot populations south of Tamaulipas and Sonora.

https://imgur.com/gallery/4uVBQ11

What can you do?

• Write to government officials in Arizona and Texas to continue to support conservation of the ocelot.
• Inform the public about the endangerment of the ocelot species and all endangered species in general.
• Avoid buying fur products.
• Stop hunting and poaching

Other resources

• IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: 
  http://www.catsg.org/
• https://bigcatrescue.org/ocelot-facts/
• https://www.fws.gov/refuge/laguna_atascosa/wildlife_and_habitat/ocelot.html

Citations

A-Z Animals. Nov 2008. Ocelot. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/ocelot/

NatureServe. 2017. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life Ocelot. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. http://explorer.natureserve.org.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2016. Recovery Plan for the Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), First Revision. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Wildscreen Arkive, Dr. Tadeu de Oliveira. 18 Jan. 2011. Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). http://www.arkive.org/ocelot/leopardus-pardalis/image-G50299.html.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/ocelot/#ocelot-on-rock.jpg