Sir Ocelot

Save The Ocelot

By Nick Crump

http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/sites/default/files/styles/feeds_animal_thumbnail

/public/ocelot_thumb.jpg?itok=0kbuEsGq

Description and Ecology of Organism
     An ocelot is a small cat that ranges from the very southern region of Texas all the way to northern Argentina in South America (San Diego Zoo). The ocelot has black or dark brown spots arranged in a doughnut shape with dark tan in the middle. It has two stripes on its cheeks and a strip running from the top of the eye over the head (San Diego Zoo). The ocelot is a nocturnal cat that uses its keen sight and hearing to hunt rabbits, rodents, iguanas, fish, and frogs. 

Geographic and Population Changes

https://www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/ocelot-range-map-2.jpg

     Currently, the ocelot ranges from extreme southern Texas and southern Arizona through the coastal lowlands of Mexico to Central America, Ecuador and northern Argentina. Its habitats range from tropical rainforest, pine forest, gallery forest, riparian forest, semi-deciduous forest, and dry tropical forest, to savanna, scrublands, and marshlands (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). In terms of population growth, the proportion of adult females successfully producing a litter in a given year and additional mortality caused by vehicles are primary factors in determining future population growth (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).                                  

Listing Date and Type of Listing

     The first draft revision for the Ocelot Recovery Plan was approved August 22, 1990 by the Southwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The ocelot is listed as endangered by the State of Texas and is protected from hunting and live collection in Arizona where it is listed as a species of “special concern”. 

Cause of Listing and Main Threats 

     Habitat conversion, fragmentation, and loss of habitat are the primary threats to the ocelot today. Throughout its range, the ocelot has declined in most areas because of illegal hunting and habitat loss. Currently, habitat loss is replacing hunting as the major threat. This habitat loss is due to the deforestation, agricultural development, and increased ranching. In Texas, more than 95% of the dense thorn scrub habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley has been converted to agriculture, rangelands, or urban land uses (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Commercial exploitation and illegal hunting are also significant threats to the species when the ocelot was originally listed. Fortunately, some hunting has declined significantly and is controlled by the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

https://garyborjesson.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/ocelot2.jpg

Description of Recovery Plan

     Habitat loss and the fragmentation of remaining suitable habitat is clearly the greatest threat to the persistence and recovery of the ocelot in the Mexico and U.S. borderland population. In addition, the widespread conversion of thornscrub habitat to agriculture and other intensive land uses has not only reduced the total population, but “has reduced the potential for habitat fragments to be reached by dispersing ocelots, and has made the natural recolonization of vacant range unlikely” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). In the absence of population expansion, the ocelot in Texas faces a high risk of extinction in less than 40 years as the result of “the combined effects of reduced genetic variability and environmental stochasticity” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The purpose of the recovery plan is manage the population so it improves genetic fitness, population size, restores habitat, enhances landscape linkages among populations, promotes range expansion, and reduces threats from roads and other sources of development-related mortality. The main recovery objectives collectively describe the specific conditions under which the goals of the recovery of the ocelot will be met. The recovery objectives are summarized below:

1. Asses, protect, and restore habitat to support viable populations in the borderlands of the U.S. and Mexico.
2. Reduce the effects of human population growth and development on ocelot survival.
3. Maintain and improve genetic fitness, demographic conditions, and health of the ocelot.
4. Assure the long-term viability of ocelot conservation through partnerships.
5. Practice adaptive management in which recovery is monitored.
6. Support international efforts to ascertain the status of and conserve the ocelot south of Tamaulipas and in Sonora.

Works Cited

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2010. Draft Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) Recovery Plan, First Revision. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"Mammals: Ocelot." Animals.sandiegozoo.org. San Diego Zoo, n.d. Web. 7 June 2015.