Ocelot
They are a small wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. This medium-sized cat is characterized by solid black spots and streaks on its coat, round ears, and white neck and undersides. It weighs between 8-15.5 kg and reaches 40–50 cm at the shoulders. Two subspecies are recognized; one has a greyish fur. Its range extends from Texas and Arizona to Costa Rica and the other has a more yellowish fur and is larger than the other subspecies. It occurs in South America as far south as northern Argentina.
Habitat
They range from southwestern United States to northern Argentina, up to an elevation of 3,000 m. It inhabits tropical forests, thorn forests, mangrove swamps and savannah. It favours areas with dense forest cover and water sources, far from roads and human settlement, avoiding steep slopes and highly elevated areas due to lack of prey. In areas where they coexist with larger predators such as the cougar and human beings, they may tune their active hours to avoid them, and seek dense cover to avoid competitors. It can adapt well to its surroundings; as such, factors other than the aforementioned are not significant in its choice of habitat. It shares a large part of its range with the jaguar, jaguarundi, margay, oncilla and cougar.
Diet
They have been observed to follow scent trails to acquire prey. They walk slowly at a speed of about 0.3 km/h searching for prey. Alternatively, they may wait for prey for 30-60 minutes at a certain site, and move to another walking at 0.8–1.4 km/h if unsuccessful. They typically prefer hunting in areas with vegetation cover, avoiding open areas, especially on moonlit nights, so as not to be seen by the prey. As a carnivore it preys on small terrestrial mammals such as rodents, lagomorphs, armadillos, opossums, and also fish, insects, reptiles and small birds. It usually feeds on the kill immediately, but removes bird feathers before. It typically preys on animals that weigh less than 1 kg, but rarely targets large animals such as deer and peccaries. An ocelot requires 600–800 g of food every day to satisfy its energy requirements. Primates prevail in the diet of ocelots in southeastern Brazil, and iguanas in a tropical deciduous forest in Mexico. The composition of the diet varies by season; in Venezuela, ocelots were found to prefer iguanas and rodents in the dry season and then switch to land crabs in the wet season. In southeastern Brazil, ocelots have a similar prey preference as margays and oncillas. The oncillas focus on tree-living marsupials and birds while the margays are not as selective.
Breeding
Both male and female ocelots produce a long-range yowl in the mating season as well as a short-range meow. Ocelots can mate any time during the year. The peak mating season varies geographically; in Argentina and Paraguay peaks have been observed in autumn, and in Mexico and Texas in autumn and winter. Oestrus lasts four to five days, and recurs every 25 days in a non-pregnant female. Captive ocelots spend more time together when mating; both scent-mark extensively and eat less during this time. Breeding ocelots in captivity is often difficult. A litter of one to three is born after a gestational period of two to three months. Females give birth in dens, usually located in dense vegetation. A newborn kitten weighs 200–340 g. The kitten is born with spots and stripes, though on a gray background; the colour changes to golden as the ocelot grows older. A study in southern Texas revealed that a mother keeps a litter in a den for 13-64 days, and shifts the young to two or three dens. The kitten's eyes open 15-18 days after birth. Kittens begin to leave the den at the age of three months. They remain with their mother for up to two years, and then start dispersing and establishing their own territory. In comparison to other felines, ocelots have a relatively longer duration between births and a narrow litter size. Captive ocelots live for up to 20 years.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Least Concern(LC) and there population trend is decreasing and they were last assessed 10th may 2014. At a continental scale, Ocelot densities decrease with latitude and increase with rainfall. Primary productivity seems to determine the abundance of this wild cat across their range, but at a local scale their abundance may be affected by logging and poaching or by competition with other species. The lowest densities are found at the Pine Forest of Belize, dry areas of Mexico and the Caatinga in northeastern Brazil. The maximum estimated density was found at the Barro Colorado Island in Panamá . The species is considered Endangered in Mexico and in United States, Vulnerable in Colombia and Argentina. In Brazil, populations outside the Amazon are listed as Vulnerable.
Threats
At present the major threats for the species are habitat loss and fragmentation, retaliatory killing due to depredation of poultry and illegal trade of pets and pelts.The Ocelot has been described as being tolerant in some degree to habitat disturbs and persists in wooded patches near human settlements. However, Ocelot abundance is negatively affected by anthropogenic effects like poaching and logging. Although widespread commercial harvests for the fur trade ceased decades ago, some illegal trade still persists.
Conservation
The species is protected across most of its range, with hunting banned in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela, and hunting regulations in place in Peru. Part of the species range includes protected areas, including some capable of maintaining long-term viable populations.