Ocelot

(Leopardus pardalis)

Date of Listing: Endangered, 1972

© Photo courtesy Tom Smylie, USFWS

Ocelots hunt at night and spend the day resting in brush so thick that the only way a person can move through it is by crawling. Ocelots live within an area (home range) of about 1 to 4 square miles. Females prepare a den for their kittens in thick brush. Mothers leave at night to hunt, but spend each day with their kittens at the den. The kittens begin hunting with their mother when they are about 3 months old. They stay with her until they are about a year old.

Note: Special thanks to the photographers for providing images of Texas endangered and threatened plants. All rights to these images are reserved. Educational use permitted.

Ocelots are endangered because their habitat (the thick brush where they live) has been cleared for farming and growth of cities. About 30 to 35 ocelots live in the shrublands remaining at or near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, Texas.

Size:

30-41 inches long and 15-30 lbs.

Diet:

Rabbits, small rodents, and birds.

Habitat (where it lives):

Dense, thorny, low brush such as spiny hackberry, lotebush, and blackbrush.

Range (where found in Texas):

South Texas Brush Country and Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Life Span:

20 years in captivity.

Reproduction:

1 or 2 kittens born each year.

Population Numbers:

1995 estimate was 80 to 120 individuals.

Interesting Fact:

Historical records indicate that the Ocelot once occurred throughout south Texas, the southern Edwards Plateau, and along the Coastal Plain.

For more information: The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition