Ocelot
Ocelots range in color from light yellow to reddish gray, with dark spots and stripes. They have dark stripes on their cheeks and their tailed have rings of dark fur.
Size 
Ocelots are 20 to 40 inches long. Their tails are an additional ten to 15 inches. Ocelots weigh between 20 and 25 pounds.
Population
An estimated 800,000 to 1.5 million are found worldwide. 80 to 120 are found in two isolated populations in southeast Texas.
Lifespan
In captivity, ocelots can live 20 years while in the wild they live seven to ten years.
Range
Once ranging as far east as Arkansas and Louisiana, throughout Texas, Mexico, ocelots are currently found in extreme southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. They are also found in every country south of the United States except Chile.
Habitat
Ocelots live in a variety of habitats, ranging from mangrove forests, coastal marshes, savannah grasslands, pastures, thorn scrub and tropical forests. All of these habitats provide only live in areas with dense vegetative cover.
Diet
Ocelots are carnivores, they hunt and eat animals such as rodents, rabbits, young deer, birds, snakes and fish.
Behavior
Ocelots are strongly nocturnal, resting in trees or dense brush during the day. Ocelots are very active, traveling from one to five miles per night. Males usually travel further than females. They capture an average of one prey item for every 3.1 hours of travel.
Offspring
Following a 79 to 85 day gestation, young are born in litters of one to three. Kittens are independent after about one year, but may stay with their mother for an additional year. |
