Ocelot

Ocelot

The Ocelot, known also as the Painted Leopard, McKenney's Wildcat, Jaguatirica in Brazil or Manigordo in Costa Rica, is a wild cat distributed over South America, Central America and Mexico. There are reports of sightings of Ocelots as far north as Texas and in Trinidad in the Caribbean. Of the ten Ocelot subspecies, one is found in the Brazilian rain forest.

The Ocelot's appearance is similar to that of the domestic cat. The Ocelot's fur resembles that of a Clouded Leopard or Jaguar. Once the pelt of the Ocelot was regarded as highly valuable. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of Ocelots being killed for their fur. This feline was classified a "vulnerable" endangered species from the 1980s until 1996, but is now generally considered "least concern" by the 2006 IUCN Red List.

The Ocelot has an average length of 3 feet, with a tail that is a 1 1/2 feet in length. An average weight for the Ocelot is between 25–35 pounds. This makes the Ocelot the largest of the generally dainty Leopardus wild cat genus.

While similar in appearance to the Oncilla and the Margay, which inhabit the same region, the Ocelot is larger.

The Ocelot has a tawny to reddish brown coat marked with black spots and rosettes. The fur is short, and lighter beneath. There is a single white spot on the back of each of its ears, and there are two black lines on either side of its face. It has a black-banded tail.

Mostly nocturnal and very territorial, the Ocelot will fight fiercely, sometimes to the death, in territorial disputes.

The Ocelot, like most felines, is solitary, usually meeting only to mate. However, during the day when resting in trees or other dense foliage, the Ocelot occasionally shares its spot with another Ocelot of the same sex.

The Ocelot, is well equipped for a lifestyle of life in the jungle and will sometimes take to the trees, but unlike the Margay and Oncilla, the Ocelot mainly stays on the ground.

Most Ocelots hunt over a range of 7 square miles, taking mostly small South American deer (which are far small than their North American cousins), rabbits and various rodents, reptiles and amphibians, such as lizards, frogs, and turtles, crabs, birds and fish.

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