Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) by Patrick Johanson

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The Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)


Description and Ecology

The Ocelot is a medium sized cat belonging to the genus Leopardus. The ocelot consists of up to 11 subspecies but for the purpose of this recovery plan we will focus on two: the Texas-Tamaulipas ocelot(Texas/Tamaulipas, Mexico) and the Arizona-Sonora ocelot(Arizona-Sonora, Mexico). The color of this cat ranges from gray to a reddish orange with black stripes and spots along the body as pictured above. The ocelot has been found in multiple habitat types such as coastal grassland and oak mottes but has shown an inclination for thick thorn scrub habitats with dense cover.
Thornscrub habitat
Through studies of ocelot scat, it is found that the primary prey of ocelots are rodents and cottontails  while also finding remains of birds. The ocelot experiences minimal competition for prey, with its' main competitor being the bobcat due to similar diets found in feces. However, it is thought to be minimal due to different preferences for shelter. Not much is known about the diet of the ocelot, which will be discussed later.

Geographic and Population Changes

In the 19th century, the Texas ocelot was thought to have inhabited mainly southern and eastern Texas with some sources, though unverified, believing the ocelot could have reached as far west as Louisiana. The Arizona ocelot inhabited mainly southeastern Arizona while believed to have originated as far south as Texas or Mexico.

Ocelot Distribution in US and Mexico
Ocelot Distribution in South America




















Currently, the ocelot has been spotted in every South American country apart from Chile; however, the Texas and Arizona ocelot have only been spotted as far south as Northern Mexico. They can be found in greatest abundance in southeastern Texas and Arizona, as depicted by the graph on the left. The current ocelot population occurring in Texas and Arizona is only a small fraction compared to that of the estimated population in Mexico. Estimates from the mid-1980's estimated as many as 19 ocelots and no record of ocelots in Arizona. As of 2015, there was a total combined ocelot population of 19 (14 in Texas and 5 in Arizona) in the US. In the two Mexican regions, there was an estimated 2295 ocelots (874 in Tamaulipas and 1421 in Sonora).

Listing


Ocelot Pelt
Ocelot Pelt
In 1972, the ocelot was listed as endangered under the endangered species conservation act. Currently according to the Red List, which is lead by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the ocelot is listed as least concern; however, as of 2008, the IUCN acknowledges that some populations of ocelots were decreasing and moving towards endangerment. The reasons for this are habitat loss, exploitation, disease and predation. The thornscrub in which ocelots prefer to live are being wiped out for agriculture and urban use leaving them in unfamiliar and uncomfortable environments. Along with that, beginning in the 1960's, the ocelots were imported for pet trade and exploited for their pelts to be used in fashion. Between 1967 and 1973, commercial trade was banned, causing a drastic decrease in the killing of ocelots. Lastly, due to the small population of ocelots, disease has a large effect due to low genetic diversity and therefore can spread easily.

Recovery Plan

1. Protect and preserve populations and habitats of ocelots near the southern borders of Texas and Arizona and into Mexico. The dense cover and thick thornscrub habitats are necessities for the survival of the ocelots and therefore need to be preserved for their survival.

2. Enforce positive human intervention and interactions with ocelots. This includes protecting animals from human incidental human interactions such like car accidents but also adding man made products like camera monitors or bridges to provide service to the ocelot . Likewise, means trying to prompt government to help with the enforcement of such policies.

3. Improve the health and genetic diversity of ocelots through possible captive breeding programs and finding new locations for establishing ocelot populations. This will allow for an increase in ocelots through human interaction that will increase genetic diversity and thus decreasing chance of disease.

4. Develop relationships and regulations to help ensure the safety of ocelots is always of concern. With the help of government and politicians who have power in the US, more laws and regulations can be passed to prevent the harm of ocelots and push for new ways to help the preservation of the species.

By following these steps, hopefully the ocelot can be removed from the list of endangered species and can continue to grow in number. This way they can have a stable population in order to survive on their own without any human interaction at all.

What Can You Do?


  • Spread the word - knowledge about the subject itself can help in many ways
  • Reach out to people who can help - they don't have to be wildlife protection agencies, all types of businesses can be useful for escalating the recovery of ocelots
  • Stay away from the area

Other Resources


 For more information on the topic, check out these sources:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140603-ocelots-cats-wildlife-recovery-habitat-loss-panther-highway/

https://wildcatconservation.org/wild-cats/south-america/ocelot/

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/11509/0

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/ocelot/




Image Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot#/media/File:Ocelot_(Jaguatirica)_Zoo_Itatiba.jpg

https://www.americanforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Thornscrub-Habitat_LRGV-NWR.jpg

https://s3.amazonaws.com/img.antiquesreporter.com.au/081018DASY/362.jpg

http://support.iucnredlist.org/sites/default/themes/bricktheme/stylesheets/images/scale/LC_scale.png

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










Comments

  1. ANovember 14, 2017 at 11:01 PM

    It is interesting how similar yet different our chosen animals are, I wrote about the Gulf Coast Jaguarundi. What else is interesting is that the Jaguarundi is not hunted for it's pelt but does get caught in traps meant for other animals, it seems the Ocelot is one of those animals. Hopefully their habitat will be revived so that both of our animals can be delisted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 15, 2017 at 4:47 PM

    It is pretty awesome that once the hunting was banned, the numbers increased. I feel like with a lot of species, banning hunting only leads to an increase in killing on the illegal side. One question I have is why are they on the section of least concern? it seems like they are essentially extirpated from the U.S.! Awesome blog post though and a super cool animal

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 27, 2017 at 2:25 PM

    It's really great that the ban on commercial trade helped the ocelots so much, but its sad that even with that benefit they are still endangered. I hope that conservationists do develop captive breeding for the cats because my chosen animal (Mexican Gray Wolf) benefitted greatly from the increase in genetic diversity, which seems to be one of the ocelots main issues.

    ReplyDelete
  4. DrWildlifeDecember 5, 2017 at 9:08 PM

    I'm glad that they placed a ban on commercial trade so that the population numbers of the ocelots could rise. Hopefully, this can happen with many other animals as well. -Rachel Kenison

    ReplyDelete

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