The Ocelot - A journey to recovery
BIO 227 Blog Post By Nicole Smith
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| Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocelot |
Ocelot (Leopardus (=felis) pardalis)
All about the Ocelot - a description and ecology
The Ocelot is a majestic animal that is part of the cat family, and is twice the size of a normal house cat. This animal has a very shiny, sleek coat that is covered in small-medium size spots, and has eyes that are extremely large (National Geographic). The back of the ears are black with solid black spots mark the head and limbs. There are two black stripes on the cheeks and one or two transverse bars on the insides of the forelegs. The tail is either ringed or marked with dark bars on its upper surface. A unique feature about the ocelot is that the eye sockets or orbits are incomplete at the back (Species Profile for Ocelot). Although they are in the cat family, unlike most cats, ocelots love the water and do not avoid it like most normal cats do and can actually swim! Even though these cats are high strung, unpredictable and ultimately comedic, many humans have declawed and even altered these cats in order to transform them into “household” pets (Big Cat Rescue). The Ocelot is active during the night and it’s diet nocturnal rodents, such as cane mice, and marsh, spiny and rice rats, opossums and armadillos. They will also take larger prey such as lesser anteaters, deer, squirrel monkeys and land tortoises.
The Ocelot is a majestic animal that is part of the cat family, and is twice the size of a normal house cat. This animal has a very shiny, sleek coat that is covered in small-medium size spots, and has eyes that are extremely large (National Geographic). The back of the ears are black with solid black spots mark the head and limbs. There are two black stripes on the cheeks and one or two transverse bars on the insides of the forelegs. The tail is either ringed or marked with dark bars on its upper surface. A unique feature about the ocelot is that the eye sockets or orbits are incomplete at the back (Species Profile for Ocelot). Although they are in the cat family, unlike most cats, ocelots love the water and do not avoid it like most normal cats do and can actually swim! Even though these cats are high strung, unpredictable and ultimately comedic, many humans have declawed and even altered these cats in order to transform them into “household” pets (Big Cat Rescue). The Ocelot is active during the night and it’s diet nocturnal rodents, such as cane mice, and marsh, spiny and rice rats, opossums and armadillos. They will also take larger prey such as lesser anteaters, deer, squirrel monkeys and land tortoises.
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| This is an image of the territory that the current surviving ocelots reside in - image from http://bigcatrescue.org/ocelot-facts/ |
Geographic and Population Changes
The Ocelot is found in very diverse habitats including rainforest, montane forest, thick bush, semi-deserts, coastal marsh, and along river banks, but it is never found in open country (Big Cat Rescue). The cats mostly reside in southern Texas and every southern country below the United States besides Chile. There has been a significant decrease in population of the ocelot because of deforestation and habitat destruction.
Listing Date and Type of Listing
Through the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the ocelot was first listed as endangered on March 28th, 1972, but since then, the recovery plan has gone under multiple revisions. The latest revision to the recovery plan was on August 28th, 2010. As of now,
June 5th, the species is still listed as endangered.
June 5th, the species is still listed as endangered.
Cause of listing and Main threats to its continued existence
The reason why the ocelot is listed on the endangered species list is because of habitat loss and hunting. Humans have pushed the species to the brink of extinction through these acts. Now, continuing habitat loss, collisions with vehicles, and inbreeding resulting from small and isolated groups are keeping the species’ population numbers low. The recovery plan for the species includes connecting the populations in Texas and Mexico to provide a migratory corridor and expand the gene pool (The Ocelot).
This video is from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS4fRKFYDsg
The Recovery Plan - A Description
The main goal of the recovery plan is very simple: to recover and delist the ocelot and a more immediate goal is to downlist it from endangered to threatened status.
These are the actions of the Recovery Plan that need to take place:
These are the actions of the Recovery Plan that need to take place:
- Assess, protect, and enhance ocelot populations and habitat in the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico
- Reduce the effects of human population growth and development on the ocelot
- Maintain or improve genetic fitness, demographic conditions, and health of the ocelot in borderland populations
- Assure the long-term success of ocelot conservation through partnerships, landowner incentives, community involvement, application of regulations, and public education and outreach
- Practice adaptive management in which recovery is monitored and recovery tasks are revised by USFWS in coordination with recovery implementation team subgroups as new information becomes available
- Support efforts to ascertain the status and conserve ocelot populations south of Tamaulipas and Sonora. (The Ocelot).
Works Cited
"Ocelot Facts, Photos, Videos, Sounds and News." Big Cat Rescue. 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 June 2015.
"Ocelots, Ocelot Pictures, Ocelot Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. Web. 5 June 2015.
"Species Profile for Ocelot (Leopardus (=felis) Pardalis)." Species Profile for Ocelot (Leopardus (=felis) Pardalis). Web. 5 June 2015.
"The Ocelot." Web. 5 June 2015.
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