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Leopardus pardalis (Linne, 1758) see above (limitis Mearns and ludoviciana Brass are syn-
onyms). -
Ocelot L. p. melanura (Ball, 1844: 128), see above (maripensis Allen and
ish than those to the south, with black markings reduced to the 100 90 80 70 60 50 40
width of the spaces between them (Cahalane, 1947; Cisin, 1967; I I I \ \ \ \
Goldman, 1943). Ground colors vary from grayish to cinnamon to
buff. Base color from the crown to just behind the shoulder blades 30 - -30
is a deeper tone than that of the posterior half of the dorsal area,
and ground color of the sides is paler than the back. The most
distinguishing marks are black-bordered elongated spots that en- 20 - -20
close portions of the ground color and form chainlike streaks that
run obliquely down the sides. Underparts are white, spotted with 10- - 10
black, and the tail is spotted and ringed with black (Allen, 1919;
Davis, 1974; Denis, 1964). The head has small black spots and
two black stripes on the cheeks, four to five parallel stripes run 0- -0
humid forests, and in marshy areas, along riverbanks, in mangroves, in the diet, but the frequency of iguanas and Z. brevicauda de-
and in swampy savannas. Preferred habitat seems to be gallery creased significantly (Ludlow and Sunquist, 1987).
(riverine) forests (Handley, 1976; Mondolfi, 1986). L. pardalis oc- In Peru, Emmons (1987) estimated that the average adult oc-
curs in all the life zones of Venezuela (Eisenberg, 1989). In the elot eats 558--837 g of meat/day, or ca. 88 g of meat/day/kg of
lowlands of Venezuela, it usually is captured in evergreen forests ocelot. The mean number of prey/fecal sample is 3.0 ± 1.4, or the
(72%), deciduous and thorn forests (14%), and in swamps, marshes, approximate number of prey killed each day. Since 3.2 ± 1.5 km
or pastures (14%-Handley 1976). In Brazil, radio-collared ocelots are traveled by an ocelot in its active period, hunting success was
were found 88% of the time in semideciduous forests, 15% in ca. 0.9 prey captured/km walked (Emmons, 1988). Ocelots con-
marshes, 10% in riverine forests, and 2% in grasslands. Although sume 6% of the total Proechimys production per year (Emmons,
not quantified, these percentages seemed to be proportional to hab- 1987).
itat availability in the area (Crawshaw and Quigley, 1989). In south- Home ranges of adult males typically are larger than home
ern Texas, L. pardalis inhabits live-oak forests and dense chaparral ranges of females in the same area. In Venezuela, home ranges of
adult males are 3-4 times larger than ranges of females (Ludlow
but the difference was not significant (Sunquist et al., 1989). When mitter and a partially internal antenna has proven effective (Tewes
movement was based on straight-line distance between consecutive and Schmidly, 1987).
daily locations, male ocelots in Texas cruised an average of 792 m Captive ocelots housed alone require a minimum area of 25
per day while females cruised a mean of 510 m per day (Navarro, m-, and breeding animals need 2.5-3.0 times this area. Enclosures
1985). Females with kittens traveled a mean of 2 kmlnight, gen- should be of double wire with a gap, 2.4-3.0 m high, containing a
erally staying within 1 km of the den (Laack, 1991). In Belize, network of branches. Houses should be ca. 2.5 by 2.5 m, with the
mean distance traveled/hour was 329 m, and mean total distance eaves 2.5 m high and contain sleeping boxes and shelves of varying
traveled/24 h was 6 km. Ocelot movements backtrack or cross heights. Houses should be at 13°C throughout winter, with heating
themselves in Belize (Konecny, 1989), but in Peru, ocelots travel systems capable of maintaining 21°C in case of illness (Mansard,
in continuous lines, rarely doubling back (Emmons, 1988). 1989, 1991). Enclosures should not be cleaned with disinfectants
Other than humans, the ocelot has few natural enemies. An containing phenol (Ashton and Jones, 1988). Ocelots should receive
ocelot was found in the stomach of a boa constrictor (Boa constric- a varied diet including whole carcasses, be fed individually at least
on larger prey may be started at the neck to detach the head. If marking from both partners, and both sexes may reduce their food
the prey is large, ocelots begin feeding at the belly or the haunches. intake. When housed together, mutual grooming took place and
Ocelots usually stay with their kills, but if the kill provides too they nearly always slept together. The female at first took to a high
much food to consume at one sitting, they will cover the remains branch and repelled any approach from the male by growling and
and retrieve it the next night (Kitchener, 1991). striking the male with her front feet. After 1-2 days she became
In moving from one area to another, ocelots use corridors such noisy, emitting a purring growl, and began rolling. Ca. 3 days later
as gallery forest, strips of dense brush 5-100 m wide, and drainage she solicited mating and did not become quiet until the end of the
systems (Laack, 1991; Ludlow and Sunquist, 1987; Sunquist, estrous period. If conception has not taken place, she will begin
1992). In hunting, ocelots move at a slow, steady walk with an calling again in ca. 5 days (Mansard, 1990a, 1990b, 1991).
occasional pause, and average ca. 0.3 kmlh. When ocelots move One male was born 77 days after the last observed mating,
without apparent attempts to hunt, they may move 0.8-1.4 kmlh, a but was killed almost immediately by the male who accidently
rate often used by males patrolling territory boundaries (Emmons, gained access to the den. Fifteen days later the female started call-
1988; Sunquist, 1992). During these extensive walks, ocelots mark ing again. She called for four 6-day periods over 38 days, and
sued, ocelots are excellent swimmers but will not enter the water has an enforcement problem. Although intended to protect the oc-
unless absolutely necessary (Guggisberg, 1975). elot, Peru's 1970 law prohibiting ocelot hunting only led to a shift
in the fur trade from Peru to Colombia. There is circumstantial
GENETICS. The diploid number of chromosomes is 36 and evidence that hunting is reducing ocelot populations in South
the fundamental number is 70 (Collier and O'Brien, 1985; Dubost America, because hunters travel farther every year to kill the same
and Hoyere, 1993). The karyotype consists of 34 metacentric, sub- number of ocelots they killed in previous years. Many even hunt
metacentric, or subtelocentric autosomes. The X chromosome is in Xingu National Park, Brazil (Myers, 1973).
submetacentric and the Y chromosome is a minute submetacentric Initially L. pardalis was overlooked for endangered status in
(Hsu and Benirschke, 1967). Electrophoresis showed there was the United States in 1972, but the error was corrected with a sep-
polymorphism at 10 of 25 loci among six ocelots sampled (Newman, arate rule in July 1982. This ruling protected the ocelot in Texas
et al., 1985). Extending this study to include additional loci also and Arizona, although the Texas population had been protected by
examined in the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), 20.8% of 48 loci were state law since 1977 (Laack, 1991). The ocelot was protected in
LITERATURE CITED CRAWSHAW, P G., JR., AND H. B. QUIGLEY. 1989. Notes on ocelot
movement and activity in the Pantanal region, Brazil. Biotro-
ALLEN, J. A. 1904a. Mammals from southern Mexico and Central pica, 21:377-379.
and South America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Nat- CUVIER, F. 1820. Le chati femelle. Pp. 139-141 in Histoire na-
ural History, 20:29--80. turelle des mammiferes (E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and F. Cu-
· 1904b. New mammals from Venezuela and Colombia, vier, eds.). Paris, France, 2:1-3, plate 137 (as issued) or 1:
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 20:327- 139-141 (as intended by publisher).
336. DAVIS, ~ B. 1974. The mammals of Texas. Texas Parks and
· 1906. Mammals from the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco, Wildlife Bulletin, 41:1-252.
Mexico, collected by J. H. Batty during 1904 and 1905. Bul- DENIS, A. 1964. Cats of the world. The Riverside Press Cam-
letin of the American Museum of Natural History, 22:191- bridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 144 pp.
262. DUBOST, G., AND J. ROYERE. 1993. Hybridization between ocelot
· 1919. Notes on the synonymy and nomenclature of the (Felis pardalis) and puma (Felis concolor). Zoo Biology, 12:
mity with its organization, by the Baron Cuvier. G. B. Whit- of ocelots in Venezuela. National Geographic Research, 3:
taker, London, United Kingdom, 2:1-513, 5:1-391. 447-461.
GRIMWOOD, I. R. 1968. Notes on the distribution and status of MANSARD, P. 1989. Some environmental considerations for small
some Peruvian mammals. American Committee for Interna- cats. Ratel, 16:12-15.
tional Wild Life Protection and New York Zoological Society, · 1990a. Breeding an ocelot kitten at Ridgeway Trust.
Special Publication, 21: 1--86. Ratel, 17:16-20.
GUGGISBERG, C. A. W. 1975. Wild cats of the world. Taplinger · 1990b. Oestrous cycles and oestrous behaviour in the
Publishing Company, New York, 328 pp. ocelot (Felis pardalis). Ratel, 17:180-183.
HALL, E. R., AND W W DALQUEST. 1963. The mammals of Ve- · 1991. Ocelot. Pp. 92-102, in Management guidelines
racruz. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural for exotic cats (J. Partridge, ed.). The Association of British
History, 14:165-362. Wild Animal Keepers, Bristol, United Kingdom, 153 pp.
HANDLEY, C. 0., JR. 1976. Mammals of the Smithsonian Vene- MARTEAU, M. 1977. Oncicola venezuelensis n. sp. (Archiacan-
zuelan project. Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, thocephala; Oligacanthorhynchida), parasite de l'ocelot (Felis
kannten Saugethiere, oder, Synopsis mammalium, nach dem TEWES, M. E., AND D. D. EVERETT. 1986. Status and distribution
Cuvier'schen System. Verlag, Jent und Gassmann, Solothurn, of the endangered ocelot and jaguarundi in Texas. Pp. 147-
Germany, 2 volumes, 587 pp. 158, in Cats of the world: biology, conservation, and manage-
SEAGER, S. ~ 1977. Collection and freezing of semen of captive ment (S. D. Miller and D. D. Everett, eds.). National Wildlife
wild felidae. Pp, 112-119, in The world's cats: contributions Federation, Washington, D.C., 501 pp.
to breeding biology, behavior and husbandry (R. L. Eaton, TEWES, M. E., AND D. J. SCHMIDLY. 1987. The Neotropical felids:
ed.). Carnivore Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, 3:1- jaguar, ocelot, margay, and jaguarundi. Pp. 697-711, in Wild
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SEAL, U. S., AND T. J. KREEGER. 1987. Chemical immobilization Novak, J. A. Baker, M. E. Obbard, and B. Malloch, eds.).
of furbearers. Pp. 191-215, in Wild furbearer management Ministry of Natural Resources, Concord, Ontario, Canada,
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M. E. Obbard, and B. Malloch, eds.). Ministry of Natural Re- THOMAS, O. 1914. On various South-American mammals. The