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Nov 17, 2019 Interesting Creatures in Guyana, News
The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is a small wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America. It is marked with solid black spots, streaks and stripes. Results of a phylogenetic study of the Felidae indicate that the ocelot diverged between 2.41 and 1.01 million years ago.
The ocelot’s fur is extensively marked with solid black markings on a creamy, tawny, yellowish, reddish grey or grey background colour. The spots on 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, 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 0.8 cm (0.31 in) long on the belly, but with longer, about 1 cm (0.39 in) long guard hairs on the back. It has 28 to 30 teeth.
Its eyes are brown but reflect golden when illuminated. It is a medium-sized cat with a head-and-body length of between 55 and 100 cm (22 and 39 in) and a 25.5 to 41 cm (10.0 to 16.1 in) long tail. Females weigh 6.6–11.3 kg (15–25 lb) and males 7–15.5 kg (15–34 lb). Its spoor measures nearly 2 cm × 2 cm (0.79 in × 0.79 in).
English naturalist Richard Lydekker commented that the ocelot is “one of the most difficult members of the feline family to describe”. In 1929, wildlife author Ernest Thompson Seton described the ocelot’s coat as “the most wonderful tangle of stripes, bars, chains, spots, dots and smudges … which look as though they were put on as the animal ran by.”
The ocelot can be easily confused with the margay, but differs in being twice as heavy, having a greater head-and-body length, a shorter tail, smaller eyes relative to the size of the head, and different cranial features. It is similar in size to the bobcat. Larger individuals have occasionally been recorded. The jaguar is notably larger and heavier, and has rosettes instead of spots and stripes.
The ocelot ranges from the southwestern United States via Mexico and Central America to South America as far south as Argentina up to an elevation of 3,000 m (9,800 ft). It inhabits tropical forest, thorn forest, mangrove swamps and savanna, and prefers areas with relatively dense vegetation cover, but occasionally hunts in more open areas at night.
The ocelot is usually solitary and crepuscular. It scent-marks its territory by spraying urine. The territories of males are 3.5–46 km2 (1.4–17.8 sq mi) large, while those of females cover 0.8–15 km2 (0.31–5.79 sq mi). 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.
Ocelots are carnivores and prey on small mammals, such as armadillos, opossums and rabbits, rodents, small birds, fish, insects and reptiles. According to studies, primates prevail in the diet of ocelots in southeastern Brazil, and iguanas are the main prey of Mexican ocelots. An ocelot typically preys on animals that weigh less than 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). It rarely targets large animals such as deer and peccaries.
An ocelot requires 600–800 grams (21–28 oz) of food every day to satisfy its energy requirements. The composition of the diet may vary 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. A study showed that ocelots are similar to margays and oncillas in dietary preferences, but the oncilla focuses on tree-living marsupials and birds while the margay is not as selective.
Ocelots have been observed to follow scent trails to acquire prey. They walk at a speed of about 300 m/h (0.2 mph) on the lookout for prey; and at a speed of 800–1,400 m/h (0.5–0.9 mph) to a known kill site. Or they wait for 30 to 60 minutes at a certain place, and then move on to a different place when unsuccessful. They tend to eat the kill immediately, and remove feathers before eating birds.
Both male and female ocelots produce a long-range “yowl” in the mating season as well as short-range “meow”. Ocelots mate at any time of the year. 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. A study in southern Brazil showed that sperm production in ocelots, margays as well as oncillas peaks in summer.
Captive ocelots spend more time together when mating; both scent-mark extensively and even eat less during this time.
A litter of one to three is born after a gestational period of 79 to 83 days. Females give birth in dens, usually located in dense vegetation. A newborn kitten weighs 200–340 g (7.1–12.0 oz). 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 to 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.
The destruction of habitat is the main threat to ocelot survival. In addition, it is sought by poachers for the illegal trade in body parts and skin, and killed in retaliation for hunting poultry.
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