Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)

Ocelot photographed at Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona. Photograph by Al Andersen. Some rights reserved.

Description

The Ocelot has short tawny or reddish brown fur with black spots and rosette shaped marks. The belly is white. The face has two black stripes down each side. There is a white spot behind each ear and white marks round the eyes and mouth. The tail is banded with black bands.

Size

Head and body length 55cm - 100cm. Tail length 30cm - 45cm. Weight: males 10 - 11.5 kg; females 8.8 - 9.4 kg.

Habitat

Forest, scrub, rainforest, mountain habitat with dense cover.

Food

small mammals such as rabbits, rodents. Also frogs, fish, reptiles.

Breeding

One or two young are born after gestation of 79 - 85 days.

Range

Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA (Texas, Arizona), Uruguay, Venezuela.

Classification Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae Genus: Leopardus Species: pardalis

Relatives in same Genus   Colocolo (L. colocolo)   Geoffroy's Cat (L. geoffroyi)   Kodkod (L. guigna)   Andean Cat (L. jacobitus)   Pampas cat (L. pajeros)   Oncilla (L. tigrinus)   Margay (L. weidii)

Ocelot Photograph by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service . License: Public Domain.

Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), Bojnice ZOO, Slovakia Photograph by Lady Rowena. Some rights reserved.

ocelot at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington Photograph by Danleo. Some rights reserved.