Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae), home range in the Lowland Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil

By

Magalhães, Laura Martins
Srbek-Araujo, Ana Carolina

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-10-11

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

17

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

229--237

Subjects

intrasexual spatial overlap , Kernel estimator , male home range , minimum convex polygon , Neotropical felid , Spatial ecology , spatial ecology intrasexual spatial overlap

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.17.e93828

 

Abstract

The ocelot is an important Neotropical mesopredator and information on its spatial ecology remains scarce. Here we estimated the ocelot home range in a remnant of Lowland Atlantic Forest in Southeastern Brazil. The data were collected by camera traps installed at eight known ocelot latrines. We estimated the home range both based on the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and the 95% adaptive Kernel density estimator (95%K) to compare with other published studies. We identified 22 ocelots (adult males = 8; adult females = 12; cubs = 2). Six males were recorded at more than one latrine, while all females were recorded at only one sampling point. In addition to male ocelots being recorded at a large number of points, they showed greater intrasexual spatial overlap as they used the same latrines, suggesting larger home ranges than females. The mean home range size for males was 12.1 ± SE 4.4 km2(range = 6.2 to 20.8 km2) using MCP, and 19.9 ± SE 9.5 km2(range = 10.1 to 38.9 km2) applying 95%K. Despite our estimates representing an approximation of the total area used by males, both values are consistent with those reported from other locations. Our data complemented the gradient of vegetation type sampled for ocelots in Atlantic Forest and support the suggestion that this environmental variable and, consequently, its effect on prey availability, influence the home range size of ocelot. Information on population ecology and other spatial ecology data are also presented.