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The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in 1758. Two
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
are recognized. It is native to the
southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
,
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
, and to the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
islands of
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
and
Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight u ...
. It prefers areas close to water sources with dense vegetation cover and high prey availability. Typically active during
twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this i ...
and at night, the ocelot tends to be solitary and
territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
. It is efficient at climbing, leaping and swimming. It preys on small terrestrial mammals, such as armadillos,
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered No ...
s, and lagomorphs. Both sexes become sexually mature at around two years of age and can breed throughout the year; peak mating season varies geographically. After a
gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pr ...
period of two to three months the female gives birth to a litter of one to three kittens. They stay with their mother for up to two years, after which they leave to establish their own home ranges. The ocelot is listed as
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
, and is threatened by
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
,
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
, and
traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
accidents. While its range is very large, various populations are decreasing in many parts of its range. The association of the ocelot with humans dates back to the
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
and Incan civilizations; it has occasionally been kept as a pet.


Etymology

The name "ocelot" comes from the
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
word (), which generally refers to the jaguar, rather than the ocelot. Another possible origin for the name is the Latin ("having little eyes" or "marked with eye-like spots"), in reference to the cat's spotted coat. Other vernacular names for the ocelot include (Venezuela), (Argentina), (Panama), (Suriname), , (Brazil), (Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela), , , , , (Belize), (Bolivia) and (Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Peru).


Taxonomy

''Felis pardalis'' was the
scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...
proposed for the ocelot by
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
in 1758. The genus '' Leopardus'' was proposed by
John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used f ...
in 1842 for several spotted cat skins in the collection of the
Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...
. Several ocelot specimens were described in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including: *''Felis mitis'' by Frédéric Cuvier in 1824 was a specimen from
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil. *''F. chibi-gouazou'' by Edward Griffith in 1827 was based on earlier descriptions and illustrations. *''Leopardus griseus'' by John Edward Gray in 1842 was a spotted cat skin from Central America. *''F. pseudopardalis'' by
Pierre Boitard Pierre Boitard (27 April 1787 Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire – 25 August 1859) was a French botanist and geologist. As well as describing and classifying the Tasmanian devil, he is notable for his fictional natural history ''Paris avant les hommes ...
in 1845 was an ocelot kept in the Jardin des plantes. *''F. melanura'' by Robert Ball in 1844 was a specimen from British Guiana. *''F. albescens'' by Jacques Pucheran in 1855 was a specimen from Brownsville, Texas. *''F. aequatorialis'' by Edgar Alexander Mearns in 1903 was a skin of an adult female ocelot from
Talamanca canton Talamanca is a canton in the Limón province of Costa Rica. The head city is Bribri, located in Bratsi district. History Talamanca was created on 20 May 1969 by decree 4339. Geography Talamanca has an area of km² and a mean elevation of ...
in Costa Rica. *''F. maripensis'' and ''F. sanctaemartae'' by Joel Asaph Allen in 1904 were skins of two adult female ocelots from
Maripa, Venezuela Maripa is a town in the state of Bolívar, Venezuela. It is the municipal seat of the Sucre Municipality. Populated places in Bolívar (state) {{Venezuela-geo-stub ...
and Santa Marta district in Colombia, respectively. *''F. pardalis pusaea'' by
Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appo ...
in 1914 was an ocelot skin and skull from Guayas Province in coastal Ecuador. *''F. pardalis nelsoni'' and ''F. p. sonoriensis'' by Edward Alphonso Goldman in 1925 as subspecies of ''F. pardalis'', based on specimens from Manzanillo and the Mayo River region respectively in Mexico. *''L. pardalis steinbachi'' by
Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock (historian), Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He ...
in 1941 was a specimen from Buena Vista, Ichilo in Bolivia.


Subspecies

In 1919, Allen reviewed the specimens described until 1914, placed them into the genus ''Leopardus'' and recognized nine
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
as valid taxa based on the colors and spot patterns of skins. In 1941, Pocock reviewed dozens of ocelot skins in the collection of the Natural History Museum and regrouped them to nine different subspecies, also based on their colors and spots. Later authors recognized 10 subspecies as valid. In 1998, results of a mtDNA control region analysis of ocelot samples indicated that four major ocelot groups exist, one each in Central America, northwestern South America, northeastern South America and southern South America south of the
Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...
. A 2010 study of morphological features noted significant differences in the size and color of the Central and South American populations, suggesting they could be separate species. In 2013, a study of craniometric variation and
microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...
diversity in ocelots throughout the range recognized three subspecies: ''L. p. albescens'' from the Texas–Mexico border, ''L. p. pardis'' from Central America and ''L. p. pseudopardalis'' from South America, though ''L. p. mitis'' may comprise the ocelot population in the southern part of South America. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Cat Specialist Group noted that up to four subspecies can be identified, but recognized only two as valid taxa. These two taxa differ in morphological features and are geographically separated by the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
: *''L. p. pardalis'' has a greyish fur. Its range extends from Texas and Arizona to Costa Rica. *''L. p. mitis'' has a more yellowish fur and is larger than ''pardalis''. It occurs in South America as far south as northern Argentina.


Phylogeny

Results of a
phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups ...
study indicate that the ''Leopardus'' lineage genetically diverged from the Felidae around 8 million years ago ( mya). The ocelot is estimated to have diverged from the
margay The margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest. Until the 1990s, margays were hunted illegally for the wild ...
(''Leopardus wieldii'') between 2.41 and 1.01 mya. The relationships of the ocelot within the Felidae is considered as follows:


Characteristics

The ocelot's fur is extensively marked with solid black markings on a creamy, tawny, yellowish, reddish gray or gray background color. The spots on the head and limbs are small, but markings on the back, cheeks, and flanks are open or closed bands and stripes. A few dark stripes run straight from the back of the neck up to the tip of the tail. Its neck and undersides are white, and the insides of the legs are marked with a few horizontal streaks. Its round ears are marked with a bright white spot. Its fur is short, about long on the belly, but with about long guard hairs on the back. The body has a notably strong odor. Each ocelot has a unique color pattern, which can be used to identify individuals. Its eyes are brown, but reflect in a golden hue when illuminated. It has 28 to 30 teeth, with the dental formula . It has a bite force quotient at the
canine Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae ** ''Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Dog, the domestic dog * Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy People with the surn ...
tip of 113.8. With a head-and-body length ranging from and a long tail, the ocelot is the largest member of the genus ''Leopardus''. It typically reaches at the shoulder. The weight of females ranges between and of males between . Its footprint measures nearly . The ocelot can be confused with the
margay The margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest. Until the 1990s, margays were hunted illegally for the wild ...
(''Leopardus wiedii'') and the
oncilla The oncilla (''Leopardus tigrinus''), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the pop ...
(''L. tigrinus''), though the ocelot is noticeably larger and heavier with a shorter tail. Though all three have rosettes on their coats, the ocelot typically has a more blotched pattern; the oncilla has dark spots on its underbelly unlike the other two. Other differences lie in the facial markings, appearance of the tail and fur characteristics. The ocelot is similar in size to a
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...
(''Lynx rufus''), though larger individuals have occasionally been recorded. The jaguar is notably larger and heavier, and has rosettes instead of spots and stripes.


Distribution and habitat

The ocelot ranges from the southwestern United States to northern Argentina, up to an elevation of . In the United States, it is found in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, and is extirpated from
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
and
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
. Fossils of ocelots were found in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
, specifically in the Reddick Fossil Site. It inhabits tropical forests, thorn forests,
mangrove swamps A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
and
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...
s. A 2019 study in the Brazilian
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
showed that it prefers habitats with good availability of prey and water, and tends to avoid other predators. It favors 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 ocelots coexist with larger predators such as the
cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...
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.


Ecology and behavior

The ocelot is usually solitary and active mainly during twilight and at night.
Radio collar GPS animal tracking is a process whereby biologists, scientific researchers or conservation agencies can remotely observe relatively fine-scale movement or migratory patterns in a free-ranging wild animal using the Global Positioning System ( ...
ed individuals in the
Cocha Cashu Biological Station Cocha Cashu Biological Station (Estación Biológica Cocha Cashu or EBCC) is a tropical biological research station located at 11° 54'S and 71° 22'W in Manú National Park, Peru. It was established in 1969-70, predating the founding of its contain ...
in Peru rested during the day and became active earliest in the late afternoon; they moved between 3.2 and 17 hours until dawn and then returned to their dens. During the daytime, it rests on trees, in dens below large trees or other cool, sheltered sites on the ground. It is agile in climbing and leaping, and escapes predators by jumping on trees. It is also an efficient swimmer. It scent-marks its
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
by spraying urine. The territories of males are large, while those of females cover . Territories of females rarely overlap, whereas the territory of a male includes those of two to three females. Social interaction between sexes is minimal, though a few adults have been observed together even in non-mating periods, and some juveniles interact with their parents. Data from camera trapping studies confirm that several ocelot individuals deposit scat in one or several communal sites, called latrines. The ocelot can be aggressive in defending its territory, fighting even to death. The population density of ocelots has been observed to be high in areas with high rainfall, and tend to decrease with increasing latitude; highest densities have been recorded in the tropics. In 2014, the ocelot population density in Barro Colorado Island was estimated to be , greater than recorded in northwestern Amazon in Peru in 2010, which was the densest ocelot population recorded thus far. Potential predators of the ocelot in Texas include bobcats, cougars,
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...
s, American alligators and humans while mainly kitten ocelots are potentially vulnerable to large raptors such as great horned owls, feral dogs, feral pigs, pit vipers and other snakes. Studies have found that adult ocelots are vulnerable to predation by both cougars and jaguars, with decreasing water sources in Guatemala causing predatory encounters with the latter.


Hunting and diet

Ocelots have been observed to follow scent trails to acquire prey. They walk slowly at a speed of about searching for prey. Alternatively, an ocelot may wait for prey for 30 to 60 minutes at a certain site, and move to another walking at if unsuccessful. An ocelot typically prefers 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,
opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered No ...
s, and also fish, crustaceans, 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 , but rarely targets large ungulates such as deer and sheep, and peccaries, as well as anteaters, monkeys, iguanas. It requires 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 crab A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as '' Sesarma'', althou ...
s in the wet season. In southeastern Brazil, ocelots have a similar prey preference as margays and oncillas. The oncillas focus on tree-living
marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in ...
s and birds while the margays are not as selective.


Reproduction and life cycle

Both male and female ocelots produce a long-range "yowl" in the mating season and 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. Estrus lasts four to five days, and recurs every 25 days in a non-pregnant female. A study in southern Brazil showed that sperm production in ocelots, margays and oncillas peaks in summer. 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
gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pr ...
period of two to three months. Females give birth in dens, usually located in dense vegetation. A newborn kitten weighs . The kitten is born with spots and stripes, though on a gray background; the color 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 to 64 days, and shifts the young to two or three dens. The kitten's eyes open 15 to 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 felids, ocelots have a relatively longer duration between births and a narrow litter size. Captive ocelots live for up to 20 years.


Threats

Throughout its range, the ocelot is threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat. In Texas, the fertile land that supports dense cover and constitutes the optimum habitat for the ocelot is being lost to agriculture. The habitat is often fragmented into small pockets that cannot support ocelots well, leading to deaths due to starvation. Traffic accidents have emerged as a major threat over the years as ocelots try to expand beyond their natural habitat to new areas and get hit by vehicles. In the
Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
in northeastern Argentina, it is affected by
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...
and poaching of prey species. The
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
was a flourishing business in the 1960s and the 1970s that resulted in severe exploitation of felids such as the ocelot and the jaguar. In the 1960s, ocelot skins were among the most highly preferred in the US, reaching an all-time high of 140,000 skins traded in 1970. This was followed by prohibitions on commercial trade of spotted cat skins in several range states such as Brazil and the US, causing ocelot skins in trade to plummet. In 1986, the European Economic Community banned import of ocelot skins, and in 1989, the ocelot was included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. However, hunting of ocelots for skins has continued and is still a major threat to ocelot survival. Another threat has been the international pet trade; this typically involves capturing ocelot kittens by killing their mothers; these cats are then sold to tourists. Though it is banned in several countries, pet trade survives; in some areas of Central and South America ocelots are still sold in a few local markets.


Conservation

The ocelot is listed as
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
because of its wide distribution in the Americas. Ocelot hunting is banned in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela; hunting is regulated in Peru. As of 2013, the global population was estimated at more than 40,000 mature individuals. Ocelot populations were stable in some
Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boli ...
areas as of 2013. As of 2012, the ocelot population in Argentina's subtropical regions was estimated to consist of 1,500 to 8,000 mature individuals. It has been recorded in oil palm landscapes and big cattle ranches in the Colombian Llanos and inter- Andean valleys.


In Texas

In Texas and northeastern Mexico, ocelot populations have reduced drastically; as of 2014, the population in Texas is estimated to be 50–80 individuals. The reduced numbers have led to increased inbreeding and low
genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...
. Despite this, the US Fish and Wildlife Service failed to acknowledge the ocelot population in Texas as a distinct population segment worthy of listing as endangered. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and
The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
are among agencies actively involved in ocelot conservation efforts, such as the protection and regeneration of vegetation in the
Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. ...
. NatureServe considers the ocelot ''Apparently Secure'' globally, but ''Critically Imperiled'' in both Texas and Arizona.


In captivity

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association established a
Species Survival Plan The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American) Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the ...
for the ocelot populations in Brazil. In 2006, the captive population in North American zoos consisted of 16 ocelots representing six founders and their offspring. Some litters were produced using artificial insemination. The
Emperor Valley Zoo The Emperor Valley Zoo is the only zoo in Trinidad and Tobago. It is located North of the Queen's Park Savannah and West of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Port of Spain. The zoo was first opened on 8 November 1952 by Governor Sir Hubert Rance ...
in Trinidad keeps foremost confiscated and trapped ocelots.


In culture

Ocelots have been associated with humans since the time of the
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
and Incan civilizations, who depicted ocelots in their art and mythology. Representations of ocelots appear in every artistic medium, from Moche ceramics to murals, architectural details, and landscape features. Ocelot bones were made into thin, pointed instruments to pierce ears and limbs for ritual bloodletting. Several figurines depicting ocelots and similar felids are known. In her 1904 work ''A Penitential Rite of the Ancient Mexicans'', archaeologist Zelia Nuttall described a statue depicting an ocelot or another felid excavated in Mexico City and its relation to the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca. She argued that the sculpture depicted an ocelot, writing, Moreover, she described a photograph of a seated person to corroborate her claim: Like many other felids, occasionally ocelots are kept as pets. They might demand a lot of attention from their owners and have a tendency to chew on or suck on objects, such as fabric and the fingers of their owners; this can lead them to accidentally ingest objects such as tennis balls. Agile and playful, pet ocelots can be troublesome to keep due to their habit of leaping around and potentially damaging objects; ocelots may unintentionally injure their owners with bites. Nevertheless, carefully raised ocelots can be highly affectionate. Painter
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
kept a pet ocelot named Babou that was seen with him at many places he visited, including a voyage aboard SS ''France''. When one of the diners at a New York restaurant was alarmed by his ocelot, Dali told her that it was a common domestic cat that he had "painted over in an
op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden image ...
design". Opera singer Lily Pons and musician Gram Parsons are also known to have kept ocelots.


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