08 April 2014
The
ocelot kitten is between 3-5 months and was recently photographed by
wildlife cameras at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.
There are two known populations of ocelots in Texas: the 12 animals at Laguna Atascosa and another 25 or so primarily on private ranchlands in two adjacent counties. These ocelots live in thornscrub habitat, a dense chaparral. The two populations are isolated from each other and from a third and much larger population in Tamaulipas, Mexico. There have been several ocelots of the Sonoran subspecies documented in Arizona, including one caught by a remote trail camera in 2009, one hit on a road in 2010, and two sightings in 2013. Ocelots have also been documented just south of the border in Sonora, as well as at the jaguar reserve about 120 miles south of the border.
The new kitten in Texas has a special place in our hearts because several years ago Defenders helped revegetate habitat needed by ocelots in Texas and worked to stop the Border Patrol from removing vegetation and installing huge lighting arrays, which would have fragmented habitat and potentially disrupted ocelot behavior. These days, we continue to work to protect ocelots and jaguars as they struggle to recolonize their habitat in the U.S. In Arizona, we are working to stop destructive and ill-conceived mining proposals that will hinder the recovery of these spotted cats. These include the proposed Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains and numerous drilling proposals in the Patagonia Mountains. Right now, many Arizona mines stand idle, waiting for mineral prices to increase. There is simply no reason to build mines which further threaten endangered species, and which would harm the tourism-based economies of southern Arizona.
The baby ocelot brings hope to a population of only a dozen!
Eva Sargent is Defenders of Wildlife’s Director of Southwest Programs
source
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