Ocelot

OcelotOther common names of Ocelot include "painted leopard" and "tigrillo." The fur may be anywhere between cream and reddish grey marked with open-centered dark spots that run in lines across its body like links in a chain. The dappled camouflage of the fur allows it to blend perfectly with its surroundings. Obviously, the pattern and color varies from individual to individual. Ocelots are 21-39 inches long with a 12-18 inch tail. They weigh from 25 to 35 pounds

Zoological name: Leopardus pardalis

Species: This has led some workers to separate them, with the margay and oncilla into a separate genus. Wozencraft (1993) in the latest, controversial, review of felid systematics placed the margay (L. wiedii), the oncilla (L. tigrina), and ocelot together, in the genus Leopardus.
Eleven subspecies of ocelot have been described:
- F. (L.) p. pardalis Vera Cruz to Honduras
-F. (L.) p. aequatorialis Costa Rica to Peru
- F. (L.) p. albescens Texas to Tamaulipa, Mexico
- F. (L.) p. maripensis Orinoco to Amazonas
- F. (L.) p. mearnsi Nicaragua to Panama
- F. (L.) p. mitis East and Central Brazil to north Argentina
- F. (L.) p. nelsoni Sinaloa to Oaxaca, Mexico
- F. (L.) p. pseudopardalis North Venezuela to north Colombia
- F. (L.) p. pusaea South west Ecuador
- F. (L.) p. sonoriensis Arizona to Sinaloa, Mexico
- F. (L.) p. steinbachi Central Bolivia

Presence on the planet: Once found in many areas of southern North America, Central America and much of South America - today the animal has almost disappeared form its range in the southern states of North America and particular sub-species, notably L.pardalis.albescens are threatened by the conversion of large areas of plain into arable farm land - it is reported that as few as 120 ocelot survive in Texas today.

Physical appearance: The Ocelot is much larger than its cousins the Margay and the Oncilla, although they bear a striking resemblance. The Ocelot weighs between 17-24 pounds, stands 16-20 inches tall, and reaches lengths of 48-64 inches. Its coat tends to be more blotched than spotted, and the chain-like blotches and spots are bordered with black, but have a lighter colored center. These markings run the entire length of the cat. The ground color varies from whitish or tawny yellow through reddish gray to gray. The underside is white, and the backs of the ears are black with a central yellow spot.
Ocelot
Diet:The Ocelot is a terrestrial hunter and active during the night (nocturnal), and the mainstay of its diet are nocturnal rodents, such as cane mice, and marsh, spiny and rice rats, opossums and armadillos. They will also take larger prey such as lesser anteaters, deer, squirrel monkeys and land tortoises. They will also take advantage of seasonal changes and the abundance of fish and land crabs during the wet season. Occasionally, the will take birds and reptiles. However, the majority of prey items for this cat weigh less than 1-3% of its body weight.

Reproduction & Offspring: Minimum breeding age for females is 18 months, with the maximum breeding age around 13 years. Males mature at approximately 15 months, with a maximum breeding age of 15 years. In the tropics breeding takes place year round, especially September to November. Females enter estrus an average of every 4 to 6 months, and estrus lasts 7 to 10 days unless conception occurs (in which case the average is 5 days). Gestation period varies between 79 and 85 days. Litter sizes are small, usually only 1 or 2 young, with the rare occurence of 3. Females provide all of the care for their young, males do not provide parental care.

Conservation status: Ocelots are protected by the Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to transport, import, export, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any wild animal that was taken in violation of the law. Ocelots do fairly well living in close proximity to humans as long as hunting pressure isn't too intense and they have the appropriate habitats available to them. Habitat destruction is the primary threat to ocelots throughout some areas of their range.

In the United States they are also protected by the Recovery Plan for the Listed Cats of Arizona and Texas, the primary objective of which is to maintain the ocelot populations in Texas. The plan includes provisions to further the study of ocelots in their wild habitat and an information and education program to get public support behind the effort to protect this species.

Pallas Cat

The Pallas' cat , named after German naturalist Pyotr Simon Pallas (1741-1811), is a small-sized wild cat known for its flattened face, stocky build, and long hair. The cats' coat is unique with black spots on the head and varying black stripes either on the back, tail, or both. The hair's tip is white, producing a mystical, frosty appearance. Weight ranges from 2-4.5 kg in the adult cat. The Pallas' cat is adapted to cold arid environments and lives in rocky terrain and grasslands through out central Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.

Zoological name: Otocolobus manul

Species: There is huge variation in coat color across the entire range of this species. This has caused some scientists to refer to them with three different subspecies classifications. There are three named subspecies, the nominate race, O. m. manul, from Mongolia, western China and Russia being the smallest and rarest. The race from Turkmenia, Afghanistan and northern Iran, O. m. ferugineus, is reddish in color. The race from northern Pakistan, northern India, Tibet, Khazakstan, Kirgizstan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan and northern Nepal is referred to as O. m. nigripectus (if valid).

Presence on the planet: The range of the palas cat extends from Iran through southern Asia to parts of western China. Its habitat varies from rocky desert through steppes to barren mountainous regions up to about 15,000 feet and the extremes in temperature in all these areas is combated by the palas cats dense fur. During the day the cat uses caves, burrows and rock fissures to sleep and becomes more active toward dusk. The palas cat is a lone, nocturnal hunter and preys predominately on rodents and small mammals.

Physical appearance: These small cats have a stocky body with thick soft fur and an abundant dark, woolly underfur which is double the length of that on the rest of the body. The colour varies from a light grey to a yellowish buff and russet, with the white tips of the hair producing a frosted appearance. There are some faint stripes along the sides of the body (more visible on the summer coat), and the fur on the underside is darker and longer than that above. Their head is round and broad with scattered black spots on the forehead, and two distinct parallel black bars on each cheek. The large, owl-like eyes are yellow, and the pupils contract into small circles instead of the usual vertical slits. The ears are short, rounded, and set low on the sides of the head. They are buff on the backs. The legs are short and stout, and the tail is thickly furred with a broad terminal black band, and five to six narrow rings along it.

Diet: Pika form the major part of their diet, with small rodents, birds and insects also part of their diet. They not only catch their prey by chasing, but also by waiting outside of dens and ambushing the prey. If the holes are shallow, they have also been seen "fishing" for prey with their paws.

Reproduction & Offspring: Very little is known about the reproductive habits of these solitary felines. What is known comes from studies of Otocolobus manul in the former Soviet Union.

Litters generally range from 3 to 6 kittens in size, but some have been found to have as many as eight. Like many other felines, the kittens are blind and helpless when borne. They are typically about 12cm long and weigh around 300g at birth. The kittens molt around the age of two months, and have been observed hunting by the age of three to four months.

Conservation status: Pallas' cats are regulated by CITES as Appendix II species. They are not covered by the U.S. Endangered Species Act but are protected by national legislation over most of their range. IUCN considers them Insufficiently Known. Described as being most abundant on the cold grasslands of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and the Tibetan Plateau, it occurs widely but is nowhere common. Elsewhere the species is considered vulnerable to rare and uncommon, including in Afghanistan, Ladakh, northern India and Pakistan, and especially the small, isolated population in Baluchistan.

African Golden Cat

African Golden Cat The African Golden Cat is a medium sized cat and can grow to 90cm in body length and weigh up to 18kg. Although its name implies a golden coloured coat the golden cat is polymorphic - its base coat coloration varies extensively depending on its location -ranging from a golden/reddish brown to slate/silver grey.

Zoological name: Profelis aurata

Species: The African golden cat has long been regarded as closely related to the Asian or Temminck’s golden cat, but a recent review of cat taxonomy by Wozencraft (1993) separates the two into different genera.

Two subspecies are described:
- F. (P.) a. aurata (Congo to Uganda )
- F. (P.) a. celidogaster (West Africa )
Each of the subspecies has two different characteristic coat patterns. P. a. celidogaster: Type 1 is spotted all over; Type 2 has indistinct spots on the back and neck, with a few large, clear flank spots. P. a. aurata: Type 1 has no pattern on the neck and back, but has numerous small spots on the lower flanks; Type 2 has virtually no pattern except on the belly.

Presence on the planet: African golden cats are found in central Africa up to 3,600 metres in high deciduous rain forest, alpine moorland, and along water courses extending into the drier more open areas. They occur from Senegal to the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and south to northern Angola, and through the north east Congo basin through Ruwenzori to Uganda and Kenya (the Mau forest). They seem to prefer moist forest with dense growth.

Habitat: The primary habitat of the golden cat appears to be the Tropical Rain Forest belt which traverses the African equator, however penetration into the adjoining tropical Dry Forests and Savannah scrub is also in evidence. About 12 years.


Reproduction and Offspring: Unknown. One instance of a tribesman finding a den found a mother with 1 kitten. Some reports of captive animals indicate a gestation approximately 78 days, with newborns weighing 6.5-8 ounces at birth. Eyes open around 6 days; they are weaned between 3-4 months, and reach sexual maturity around 23 months.

African Golden Cat Diet: Prey is thought to be taken by stalking and rushing, mainly at ground level. Scat analysis in Zaire found 51% rodents and 20% ungulates, such as small deer. Their diet includes small to mid-sized mammals such as rodents, monkeys, duiker, hyrax and a variety of birds. They may also scavenge other predators’ kills. Sharing much of their range with the leopard Panthera pardus, the golden cat takes smaller prey than its much larger cousin.

IUCN status: The African golden cat has an IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) status of Insufficiently Known and due to its relatively restricted natural habitat must be considered at risk until more data is available as to its true population and distribution.

Lion

Of all the great cats, the lion has always held a supreme place in man's esteem and imagination. The lion has always been honored by man, crediting the regal beast with attributes he prizes most; nobility, courage, loyalty, combative skills and sexual prowess. This attribution applies to both sexes, for a lioness is a creature of sinuous beauty ,but the full-grown male, whose magnificent mane ranging in color from a rich golden brown to a deep blackish-brown, mark him as the veritable monarch of the plains. The legacy of the lion, King of Beasts, as the model throughout history is demonstrated by its appearance among the earliest drawings made by humans over 15,000 years ago.

Zoological name: Panthera leo

Species: Of the known sub-species of lion there seems to be an agreement on 2 as far as genetics go - Pantherinae Panthera leo leo - the African lion, and Pantherinae Panthera leo persica - the Asian lion. Regardless of the area of Africa a lion is found in today, their DNA analysis has shown them to be the same, whereas there is a difference between African and Asian. As of the time of this writing, the Barbary lion has never been tested and compared to these results, and may in fact be a third and distinct lion sub-specie.

Presence on the planet: The lion was once found from northern Africa through southwest Asia (extinct in most countries within past 150 years), west into Europe (extinct 2000 years ago) and east into India (relict population in Gir Forest only). Today, the majority of Africa’s lions can be found in east and southern Africa, with a small number in west Africa. Most of the lions today exist inside protected areas. No accurate number of how many lions exist in the wild has been reported, but guesstimates are between 30,000-100,000.

Habitat: Lion prides are often found in the open plains, but are known from nearly all habitats except deep desert and rainforest. Lions climb trees to rest and cool off, or sometimes to escape stampedes. During the day, lions rest by water holes or salt licks, but at night these places are usually reserved for hunting.

Physical appearance: Males range from 172 to 250 cm in body length, females from 158 to 192 cm. Tail length varies between 60 and 100 cm in length. Females are 45 to 68 kilograms lighter than the average-size male, but have an equal muscle mass. Males weigh between 150 and 260 kg while females weigh between 122 and 182 kg.Lions have a broad face, rounded ears, and a relatively short neck. Male lions have a mane, which varies in color. It usually is a silverish-grey or a yellowish-red. The darker the mane the older the lion. Captive lions are known to have longer and fuller manes than wild lions. The underside of males is a buff color, while the females' underside is whitish in color. Both sexes have sharp retractable claws on each paw and powerful shoulders, which they use to bring down their prey. Hinge-like jaws containing 5 centimeter canines also aid the lion in hunting and catching their prey.

Diet: Lions are very opportunistic eaters, and will take almost any prey ranging from small rodents to young rhinos, hippos and elephants. The majority of its prey, however, is medium to large ungulates, most notably zebra, wildebeest, impala, warthog, hartebeest and waterbuck. They will stay away from adult rhinos, hippos, elephants and even giraffes. The females do most of the hunting, and the male will come and join the females after the kill is made. The females will make way for the males and allow him to eat his fill first. Males will participate on a hunt when it is a particularly large prey item - like a water buffalo - where his size and strength is required to bring down such a large animal (although enough females can do it successfully on their own). Males must also hunt during their bachelor stages, when there are no females to take care of them.

Reproduction & Offspring: Lions will reproduce any time of the year, and all females of reproductive maturity will breed at the same time. This allows them to give birth in synchrony with each other, thereby sharing the suckling responsibilities. Any lactating female in a pride will suckle any cub that belongs to the pride. Lions give birth to 1-6 cubs after a gestation of 110 days. The cubs are born blind and helpless, and weigh approximately 2-4 pounds. Cub mortality is very high in lions, and less than half will survive their first year. Young males will leave their pride between 2-4 years if they can get away with staying that long, but sometimes they are forced out as early as 13-20 months. Females remain with their natal pride most of the time, although some will disperse and form new prides. While male lions are physically capable of reproducing at 30 months and females at 24 months, they do not generally successfully reproduce until pride membership has been firmly established.

Conservation status: Lions are generally considered problem animals whose existence is at odds with human settlements and cattle culture. Their scavenging behavior makes them highly susceptible to poisoned carcasses put out to eliminate predators. Where the wild prey is migratory, lions will predate on captive stock during the lean season, thus making the nuisance animals and easy targets for humans to eliminate.

White Tigers

White tigers are very rarely found in the wild. In about 100 yeas only 12 white tigers have been seen in the wild in India. They are almost extinct and most of the ones living are in captivity, mostly in zoos. This specific tiger is neither an albino nor a seperate subspecies of the tiger. They are beautifully white colored and have black stripes. It has blue eyes and a pink nose. It also has white colored fur. The white tiger is born to a bengal tiger that has the gene needed for white coloring. A pure white tiger has no stripes and are totally white.

Pristine wildness !
The striking white coat is caused by a double recessive allele in the genetic code, and only turns up naturally about once in every 10,000 births. Amazingly, the Bengal tiger is the only subspecies in which it seems to happen. As beautiful as it may look, life as a white tiger can't be easy when your life depends on being able to hide from and/or sneak up on things.

Habitat & Range: Tigers usually stay in an area from about 10 to 30 square miles where there is enough prey, cover/shelter and water to support them. Territory actually depends on the amount of prey that is available. The more concentrated the prey the smaller an area a tiger needs to survive.

Life span: White tigers in the wild live to be about 10 to 15 years while tigers in zoos usually live between 16 and 20 years.

Diet: Tigers do not hunt in social groups like lions. They are generally solitary animals. In the wild, tigers will eat pig, cattle and deer. They can eat as much as 40 pounds of meat at one time! After such a big meal a tiger will not eat again for several days. White Tigers have 30 large teeth ranging from 2.5 to 3 inches.

Caring for Young: Tigers are generally solitary animals, except when caring for their young. Tigers keep their young with them for 2 or 3 years until the young tigers can fend for themselves.

Fascinating facts about white tiger:
- The White Tiger is a good swimmer, but a very poor climber.
- They may be slow runners, but they are stealthy enough to catch any prey in their sights.
- Because they are solitary animals, they hunt mostly at night
- White tigers are born to - - Bengal tigers that carry an unusual gene needed for white coloring.
- The other four sub-species of tiger are Siberian, South China, Indochinese, and Sumataran. There are only approximately 5,000 to 7,400 tigers left in the wild.

Status: At the beginning of this century it is estimated that there were 100,000 wild tigers, today the number is less than 8,000. Simply put, tigers are disappearing in the wild. The main threats to tigers are poaching, habitat loss and population fragmentation.

Jaguar

JaguarJaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest felid species in the New World and the only member of the genus Panthera, the roaring cats, that occurs in the Americas. They are the third largest cat species, being outsized only by lions (P. leo) and tigers (P. trigris). Although not the largest felid, jaguars have the strongest jaw in relation to head size of any of the cats, a fact that should be remembered whenever planning to capture and immobilize these animals. The body weight of jaguars is 90 - 120 kg for males and 60 - 90 kg for females, with a large variation in body size. Jaguars live in a wide variety of tropical habitats, ranging from montane forest and wet savannah to tropical rain forest and deciduous tropical forest. The largest documented jaguars occur in wet savannahs while jaguars that live in more forested regions tend to be smaller in size

Zoological name: Panthera onca

Species: The jaguar is the largest species of cat native to the Western Hemisphere. Jaguars are muscular cats with relatively short, massive limbs and a deep-chested body.

Presence on the planet: Jaguars inhabit the rainforests of South America. They occur in the countries of southern Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Panama, El Salvador, Uraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Surinam, and French Guiana. Jaguars used to range as far north as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California, but their population line has receded farther south. Their niche in these areas has been taken over by the cougar.

Habitat: The jaguar prefers the dense lowland rainforests where it is humid and damp. They aviod open grasslands and open, seasonally dry forests.

Physical appearance: Jaguars are the largest cat in the western hemisphere. In comparison with the leopard, the jaguar is generally larger and much stockier, with a broad heavy head, much shorter legs and tail (a good visual description might be a leopard on steroids). The background of the jaguar's coat is a tawny-yellow, like many of the Asiatic leopards, and lightened to whitish on the throat and belly. The jaguar is marked with small isolated spots on the head and neck with dark open ring structures, rosettes,on the sides and flank that generally contain one to four dark spots inside the rings. Interestingly, the rosettes of the leopard and the jaguar are almost identical with the exception of the jaguar having spots "inside" the rosettes where the leopard has none. Along the middle of the jaguar's back, a row of black spots may merge into a solid line. According to one Indian myth, the jaguar acquired its spotted coat by daubing mud on its body with its paws.
Jaguar
Diet: Their food habits are not well-known. In Mexico, they are known to prey on peccaries; many of the Mexicans believe that each large herd of peccaries is trailed by a jaguar so that he can feed on the stragglers. They probably prey also on deer and large ground-dwelling birds. Jaguars are reputed to be so destructive of cattle and horses that the larger Mexican ranches retain a "tiger hunter" to kill them or at least to drive them away. Jaguars are also fond of sea turtle eggs and they roam the beaches on spring nights to dig up and eat the eggs that are buried in the sand.

Reproduction & Offspring: Jaguars have no established breeding season, with reproduction taking place any time during the year. A series of roaring "calls" and urinary scent marking, by both sexes, help amorous males locate receptive females during estrous. After maiting, the pair separates, with the female providing all parenting for the resulting offspring. Litters average one to four cubs, born blind with each weighing two to two and one half pounds, after a gestation period of 95 to 105 days. The cubs generally remain in the den where they were born for up to six months. The coat of the jaguar cub is wooly with spots much like the adult pattern, although the background color on the adult is more subdued. The cubs are weaned by the age of three months when they begin to accompany their mother on hunts, ultimately remaining with her for up to 24 months when, they leave to establish territories of their own.

Conservation status: Deforestation rates are high in Latin America and fragmentation of forest habitat isolates jaguar populations so that they are more vulnerable to the predations of man. People compete with jaguars for prey, and jaguars are frequently shot on sight, despite protective legislation. Jaguars are also known to kill cattle, and are killed by ranchers as pest species. The vulnerability of the jaguar to persecution is demonstrated by its disappearance by the mid-1900's from the south-western US and northern Mexico. Commercial hunting and trapping of jaguars for their pelts has declined drastically since the mid-1970's, when anti-fur campaigns and CITES controls progressively shut down international markets.

Jaguar Status: CITES: Appendix I. IUCN: Near Threatened. The jaguar is fully protected at the national level across most of its range, with hunting prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela, and hunting restrictions in place in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru. The species also occurs within protected areas in some of its range.

Life span: 20-22 years
The human-eaters!

Jaguars have a reputation for being human-eaters. However, numerous stories of men being followed for miles through the forest by solitary jaguars may suggest that they are merely escorting them off their territory and not stalking them as prey. There are also stories from the Amazonian Indians that tell of jaguars emerging from the forest to play with village children.

Jaguars are revered in many indigenous American cultures. The Maya believed that the Jaguar, God of the Underworld, helped the sun to travel under the earth at night, ensuring its new rising every morning.