Ocelots
What are ocelots?
Ocelots are a small cat species that are around twice the size of a housecat and look a bit like a miniature jaguar. Their coats are golden brown and dotted with spots, stripes, and rosettes. They also have striking patterns around their eyes and across their foreheads.
Ocelots have exceptionally good sight and hearing, which they use to hunt prey at night. They typically target small rodents but will also eat a range of other prey, including fish, birds, small deer, and even sloths.
When they’re not hunting, ocelots spend their time alone, resting out of sight in trees or bushes. Males are very territorial and don’t like to share space with other males. Instead, they live with multiple females and mate throughout the year.
There is little scientific evidence of how long ocelots live in the wild, but they have lived for as long as 20 years in captivity.
What is an ocelot’s scientific name?
The scientific name for the ocelot is Leopardus pardalis. Along with two similar-looking cats, the margay and the oncilla, the species was recently thought to be a member of the same genus as domestic cats, Felis. However, the latest DNA studies show that they actually come from a different lineage in the cat family.
Are ocelots endangered?
Ocelots live across parts of the southwestern US, Mexico, Central America, and much of South America, as far south as northern Argentina. Although their numbers appear to be decreasing, their estimated total population is unknown and the IUCN classifies the species as least concern.
However, some populations in certain locations have been given threatened statuses. Ocelots are considered endangered in Mexico and Texas. They’re also listed as vulnerable in Colombia and some parts of Brazil.
Many regions of South America are undergoing development and clearing natural forest habitats to make way for housing, agriculture, energy production, and transportation. This activity threatens these cats’ survival.
What countries do ocelots live in?
Ocelots live in several countries across North and South America. They can be found in the US (Texas and Arizona), Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, French Guiana, Guyana, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay.
Though they are abundant in some areas, their numbers have decreased greatly in others. For example, it’s believed that there are only around 50 to 80 ocelots left in Texas.
These cats are very adaptable thanks to their agile bodies and varied diets and can live in a range of habitats. They predominantly inhabit rainforests, but they can also live in brushlands and even on the outskirts of villages and settlements. Around 65% of an ocelot’s diet is made up of small rodents and, as human settlements attract rodents, ocelots can often find a lot of food close to where humans live.
Threats
Ocelots as a species are not currently endangered but they do face a number of threats such as habitat loss, vehicle collisions, and poaching.
Habitat loss and fragmentation
Like many species in South America, ocelots are threatened by habitat loss. There are several projects and plans to clear rainforest areas and replace them with pastures and cropland, leaving less land available to ocelots.
Logging is a particularly severe threat. This loud and destructive activity stresses out the cats, who often spend their days resting in trees, and forces them to move elsewhere. The more trees that are cut down, the fewer places ocelots have to sleep and make dens for their young.
Settlements and roads can also break up ocelot habitats, fragmenting populations. This makes it harder for them to find a genetically diverse mate, often leading to inbreeding, to the detriment of ocelots’ health.
Vehicle collisions
Roads are also dangerous for another reason: vehicle collisions. Just like domestic cats who wander our suburbs and cities, ocelots can get struck in car accidents when they are crossing roads.
Poaching and retaliatory killings
Although hunting ocelots for their pelts became illegal in 1972, some hunting still occurs. When ocelots live near human settlements, they are also sometimes killed by people in retaliation for preying on livestock.
FAQs
What does an ocelot look like?
Ocelots are small for a wildcat, but they’re still around twice the size of a housecat, reaching a maximum length of around 100 centimetres (39 inches), with a tail between 10- to 40-centimetre (4- to 16-inch) tail.
Their coats look similar to a jaguar or leopard’s coat—golden brown with a pattern of rosettes and spots across their entire body. Their bellies tend to be white or cream-coloured, and they have striking, dark patterns on their faces.
Ocelots have small, roundish ears, big eyes, and large pink noses. They typically have both black and white lines around their eyes and two stripes running vertically down their foreheads.
Is an ocelot bigger than a jaguar?
No, jaguars are much bigger than ocelots. The largest male ocelots can reach around one metre (39 inches) in length, but a large male jaguar is usually 1.8 metres (5.9 feet) long with a 75-centimetre (2.5-foot) tail. For scale, the Siberian tiger is believed to be the biggest cat in the world, and their body length can reach up to 3.7 metres (12.1 feet).
An adult male ocelot weighs about 15 kilograms (34 pounds), while an adult male jaguar can be as heavy as 160 kilograms (350 pounds).
Do ocelots hunt at night?
Ocelots are not strictly nocturnal but do tend to be more active at night. They prey on a mixture of mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and amphibians, meaning they hunt on land, in water, and in trees.
While a lot of their hunting happens at night, ocelots also look for prey on overcast days when visibility is low. They often pace when looking for prey but will also sit and wait in dens or burrows, ready to pounce when an unsuspecting animal walks by.
When they’re not hunting, ocelots usually rest during the day, hidden amongst plants on the ground or in trees.
What do ocelots eat?
Ocelots are carnivores and are skilled at hunting on land, around water, and even in trees. Because of this, they hunt a range of different animals, though small rodents like mice, opossum, armadillo, and rats are their most common prey.
Other prey include small monkeys, birds, and sloths—which they find in trees—as well as fish and crustaceans, which they find in water. They will also eat reptiles like iguanas and even medium-sized mammals like deer.
How do ocelots reproduce?
Ocelots breed when the weather is fair. They usually breed during spring and summer in northern climates but will breed year round in more tropical locations.
An ocelot mother gestates for 70 days and usually gives birth to two or three kittens with the same spotted coat in a darker colour. Though rare, sometimes ocelots give birth to four kittens.
When a female ocelot is in heat, she calls to nearby males to attract a mate and may attack her partner after the mating is complete. When the kittens are born, the mother keeps them in a hidden den, feeding them milk for the first two weeks and later leaving them in the den while she goes out to hunt. She brings back live prey so her young can begin learning how to hunt for themselves.
Why are ocelots so rare?
While ocelots can still be found in large numbers in South America, they used to be prominent in Texas, too. However, they were hunted extensively for their pelts in this area and now only very few ocelots live there.
Can an ocelot be a pet?
No, ocelots should not be pets. Ocelots are not suitable pets because, unlike the domesticated house cat, they are wild animals. Being around humans can cause them stress, leading to aggressive and defensive behaviour. It is not possible to meet their wild needs in a human home.
Ocelots experienced a wave of popularity as pets in Texas during the mid-20th century. However, they were prone to escaping, and newspapers regularly reported attacks by pet ocelots. Today, ocelots are protected in a number of places where they were previously hunted and captured.
Are ocelots dangerous?
Ocelots aren’t inherently dangerous animals—they would much rather avoid humans out in the wild than attack them. However, they do have strong, sharp teeth and will attack other creatures when they feel threatened. They’re also highly territorial. You should never approach an ocelot in the wild or try to interact with one.
How can you help?
With support from our project teams and partners, IFAW works hard to protect cats—big and small—from the illegal wildlife trade and other mounting threats. However, there is still so much more we have to do. Learn more about how we combat wildlife crime.