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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Oncilla

Oncilla

The Oncilla also known as the Little Spotted Cat, Tigrillo, Cunaguaro or Tiger Cat, is a close relative of the Ocelot and the Margay. The oncilla’s habitat is the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. Two of the four subspecies live in Brazil.

The Oncilla is a nocturnal animal, which hunts for rodents and birds. Because the Oncilla hunts in the canopy above the range of the margay and ocelot, the three species of cat can reside in the same area without competing for each others food.

The Oncilla grows between 18 to 24 inches long, with a tail anywhere from 10 to 20 inches long. While the Oncilla is somewhat larger than the average Domestic Cat, it is slightly lighter, weighing between 5 and 10 pounds.

Their coat is light brown to rich ochre or grey, with very dark brown or black spots and blotches. The under parts of the Oncilla are lighter with solitary black spots. Their limbs are spotted on the outside, and the long tail has spots at the root, developing into black rings. The Oncilla is a daintily built cat, with a narrow head and a white line above the eyes. The large ears are rounded and black on the outside with a conspicuous white central spot.

The Oncilla is consider to be an endangered species.

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Jaguarundi

Jaguarundi

The jaguarundi is a medium-sized Mexican, Central and South American wild cat. Two of the eight subspecies are found in Brazil.

The jaguarundi has an average length 30 inches, a 20 inch tail and weighs about 13.2 pounds. Due to short legs and ears that are short and rounded the jaguarundi is sometimes said to have the appearance of an otter.

The coat of the jaguarundi is unspotted, uniform in color, and varying from blackish to brownish gray or from foxy red to chestnut.

The two color phases were once thought to represent two distinct species; the gray one called jaguarundi, and the red one called eyra. However, studies have proven these are the same species and both color phases may be found in the same litter. Its coat has no markings except for spots at birth.

The jaguarundi prefers a habitat of lowland brush areas close to a source of running water. As in the case of the Brazilian subspecies, the jaguarundi occasionally inhabits dense tropical areas as well. This cat is comfortable in trees, but prefers to hunt on the ground. It preys upon fish, small mammals, reptiles and birds.

This cat is not particularly sought after for its fur, but it is suffering decline due to loss of habitat

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Margay

Margay

The Margay is a spotted cat native to Central and South America. Two subspecies are found in the Amazonian rain forest.

The Margay is a solitary and nocturnal animal that prefers remote sections of the rainforest.

The Margay can weigh about 6.6–20 pounds, with a body length of 18 to 32 inches and a tail length of 13 to 20 inches.

Similar to the larger Ocelot, the head of the Margay is a bit shorter, the tail and legs are longer, and the spotted pattern on the tail is different. Most notably, the Margay is a much more skillful climber than its relative, and it is sometimes called the Tree Ocelot because of this skill.

The Margay may spend its entire life in the trees, leaping after and chasing birds and monkeys through the treetops. The Margay is one of only two cat species with the ankle flexibility necessary to climb head-first down trees (the other being the Clouded Leopard). Its ankles can turn up to 180 degrees, it can grasp branches equally well with its fore and hind paws, and it is able to jump considerable distances. The Margay has been observed to hang from branches with only one foot.

Once believed to be vulnerable to extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature now lists the Margay as "Near Threatened".

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