run obliquely down sides; areas enclosed by 

 black-bordered spots are more intense than 

 ground color. There are two black stripes on 

 the cheeks; the tail is spotted and ringed with black. 

 Young have coloration similar to adults, but 

 darker. Photographs appear in Davis (1974) and 

 Guggisberg (1975). 



RANGE 



Extremely rare to nonexistent in Arizona 

 (Cockrum 1960). In Texas, the ocelot occupies 

 the lower Rio Grande Valley south of a line from 

 Eagle Pass to just north of Corpus Christi (Hock 

 1955, Culbertson and Schmidly 1974, Davis 

 1974). There has been one record each from the 

 Trans-Pecos (Schmidly 1977) and northern Texas 

 (Davis 1951), but these are thought to be released 

 or escaped captives (W. C. Brownlee and R. 

 McBride personal communication). In Mexico, 

 the species occurs in eastern Coahuila, along the 

 Rio Sabines vicinity of the Sierra de San Marcos, 

 and south and east of Saltillo (Baker 1956, lUCN 

 1972). It is also present in suitable habitat in Cen- 

 tral and South America (lUCN 1972). 



The ocelot's former distribution included cen- 

 tral and eastern Texas, into southern Arkansas 

 and western Louisiana, and south into Mexico 

 east of the highlands. Ocelots were also found 

 from central Arizona south into the Sonoran and 

 west slopes of the Sierra Madre. There are no 

 records from Mexico City (C. Conway personal 

 communication). The Mexican highlands form a 

 barrier between the race of ocelot that occurs in 

 Texas {F. p. albescens) and that which occurs (or 

 occurred) in Arizona (F. p. sonoriensis) Goldman 

 1925). The ocelot was also distributed transcon- 

 tinentally throughout Central and South America 

 as far south as Uruguay and northern Argentina 

 (Goldman 1943, Hock 1955, Hall and Kelson 



1959, lUCN 1972, Guggisberg 1975). 



RANGE MAP 



Shading refers to present range (Cockrum 



1960, Davis 1974, Brownlee 1978, R. McBride 

 personal communication); dots indicate sightings 

 and/or kills within the last century. 



STATES/COUNTIES 



Arizona Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz. 



Texas Cameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy. 



HABITAT 



Ocelots inhabit tropical and subtropical for- 

 ests ranging from low swamp to upland oak 

 forests (Hall and Kelson 1959, lUCN 1972). In 

 the northern part of their range they inhabit 

 dense, nearly impenetrable chaparral thickets 

 (Davis 1974); they also use second-growth forests 

 and partially cleared lands (lUCN 1972). 



FOOD AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR 



Ocelots hunt mostly at night, but it is not un- 

 usual for them to be seen in the daytime (Cala- 

 hane 1947, Hall and Kelson 1959, Denis 1964). 

 Their food habits are not well known; they are re- 

 ported to feed on small and moderate-sized mam- 

 mals, birds, monkeys, tree lizards, and, occasion- 

 ally, domestic fowl (Hall and Kelson 1959, Denis 

 1964, Davis 1974). 



SHELTER REQUIREMENTS 



Ocelots take refuge in caves in rock bluffs, 

 hollow trees, or dense parts of thickets (Davis 

 1974). 



NESTING AND BEDDING 



The den site is usually a cave in a rocky bluff, 

 hollow tree, or the dense part of a thicket (Davis 

 1974). 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



Not known. 



OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

 REQUIREMENTS 



Home range area is not known. Pairs share the 

 same territory but do not hunt together (Guggis- 

 berg 1975). They often rest in trees (Davis 1974); 

 they are excellent tree climbers (Hall and Kelson 

 1959). 



POPULATION NUMBERS AND TRENDS 



There are no firm estimates on populations in 

 the United States or Latin America. lUCN is con- 

 ducting a status survey in Latin America, and the 

 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is making a 

 field survey in Texas. Preliminary findings of the 

 Texas survey indicate around 35 at Santa Ana Na- 

 tional Wildlife Refuge and 24 at Laguna Atascosa 

 National Wildlife Refuge (Brownlee 1978). How- 

 ever, others claim that there are only 12 to 15 

 ocelots on Laguna Atascosa and none are found 



