ocelot
Conservation status: Texas ocelot Leopardus pardalis albescens is endangered. [1]
The ocelot is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1) and listed on Appendix I of CITES (5). [2]
Ocelot kittens are highly reliant upon their mother for survival, and the mother cares for her young alone. [3]
The ocelot is a neotropical felid that once inhabited the dense, almost impenetrable chaparral thickets of South Texas, the Gulf coast, and the Big Thicket of eastern Texas. [4]
The fur of the Ocelot, with its dark brown irregular shaped spots and stripes, edged with black on a yellow/tawny background give this lithe, medium size cat a most distinctive appearance. [5]
The ocelot has dappled fur that serves as camouflage in the jungles of South and Central America. [6]
Once ranged over southern part of Texas with occasional records from north and central Texas; now restricted to several isolated patches of suitable habitat in three or four counties of Rio Grande Plains. [4]
The bodies of all cats (except some breeds of domestic cat) are covered with thick fur. [7]
The ocelot is similar in appearance to a domestic cat. [8]
Other cats remove feathers and fur from their prey as they eat it, but ocelots pluck off all the feathers and fur from animals that they catch before they eat them! [...] When you see an ocelot, you may wish that you had one at home, but wild cats do not make good pets. [1]
The largest of the small spotted cats (3), the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is one of the best known and most common cat species in its range (1) (4) (10), and also arguably one of the most beautiful. [...] Despite these threats, the ocelot remains the most abundant cat species in much of its range, reaching higher densities than smaller species such as the margay, and is even thought to negatively impact its smaller competitors (the ‘ocelot effect’) (10). [2]
A medium-sized, spotted and blotched cat with a moderately long tail; about the size of a bobcat but spots much larger, tail much longer, and pelage shorter; differs from the jaguar in much smaller size and in presence of parallel black stripes on nape and oblique stripes near shoulder; upperparts grayish or buffy, heavily marked with blackish spots, small rings, blotches, and short bars; underparts white, spotted with black; tail spotted, and ringed with black; both sexes colored alike. [4]
These largely nocturnal cats use keen sight and hearing to hunt rabbits, rodents, iguanas, fish, and frogs. [6]
Sources:
[1] San Diego Zoo’s Animal Bytes: Ocelot
[2] ARKive - Ocelot videos, photos and facts - Leopardus pardalis
[3] Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - Ocelot Fact Sheet
[4] Ocelot (Felis pardalis)
[5] Ocelot: Leopardus pardalis
[6] Ocelots, Ocelot Pictures, Ocelot Facts - National Geographic
[7] Ocelot - New World Encyclopedia
[8] Ocelot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia