Golden and highly detailed, an ocelot has one of the most stunning fur coats in the world, and spotting one is a thrilling event.
The beauty of the ocelot’s coat speaks for itself, and each cat’s pattern is unique.
Short and sleek, it features an intricate pattern of black and dark brown spots, known as rosettes, with dark tan in the center. On its face are two stripes on each cheek, Native Indian style, and there are dark rings around its tail. Long stripes run from the top of each eye, over the head.
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Leonardo Mercon/Shutterstock
With its natural habitat stretching from southern Texas to northern Argentina, this wild cat—which takes its name from the Aztec word tlalocelot, meaning “field tiger”—has been listed as “least concern” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. But in the United States portion of its population range, owing to habitat destruction, the species has been marked as endangered since 1982.
The wild cat, though threatened by factors such as hunting and habitat loss, doesn’t just have breathtaking good looks. The ocelot is also exceptionally versatile and a terrific hunter.
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One of just a handful of small cat species that have been monitored in a wide range of different habitats, the ocelot is as happy living in mangrove forests as it is in high-altitude mountains. So long as they have a good amount of thick vegetative cover and plenty of potential prey, they will adapt to varying environments.
The International Society for Endangered Cats (ISFEC) calls them “opportunistic carnivores,” citing a long list of creatures ocelots are known to eat. As well as small rodents and opossums, ocelots target snakes, armadillos, iguanas, and tortoises. They will even prey on monkeys, raccoons, sloths, and small deer. Excellent climbers and strong swimmers, their athletic ability matches their aesthetic appeal, and they will scale trees and enter lakes and rivers to hunt.
But while they will catch and eat anything they can, ocelots are pickier when it comes to meal preparation. After observing their habits, San Diego Zoo describes how they pluck all the fur and feathers from their prey before they tuck in—unlike most other cats, which remove them while they eat.
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Hearteningly, though there are pitifully few existing in the United States, ocelots are the most common wild cat in the tropical Americas. 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; and regulated in Peru, according to ISFEC.
While ocelot fur was highly prized from the 1960s to the 1980s, the introduction of “import bans on all spotted cat species” meant trade slowed down, states ISFEC. In Texas, where Wild Cat Conservation says the greatest cause of death is due to vehicles, measures are in place to lower the risk of this regal-looking feline being killed by traffic.
Anna Mason is a writer based in England. She majored in literature and specializes in human interest, travel, lifestyle and content marketing. Anna enjoys storytelling, adventures, the Balearic sunshine and the Yorkshire rain.
