Thanks for all the photos from Brazos exhibit - I always wanted to see what it looks like. This ocelot exhibit seems pretty good, I guess this cat's a lot better off than the jaguar (based on your description).
Fort Worth also did a huge nice native Texas exhibit but then made the jaguar (and puma) exhibits too small. What's the deal out there in Texas? (I have a somewhat cynical theory that it is due to the attitude of Texans in general towards predators, considering Texas is HUGE cattle ranching country and is the only state in the U.S. where pumas are still classified as vermin and can be shot on sight).
I actually like that theory. It very well could be true (this coming from a native Texan). The funny thing about the Brazos River Country is that is supposed to highlight animals that are (or were) found along the Brazos River. Jaguars and Ocelots never have ranged that far north as far as I know (roughly central Texas to the Gulf Coast). I have a suspicion that a lot of these animals at Fort Worth or Waco are actually animals that have been rescued from private owners. You would be amazed at the number of big cats privately owned in Texas. I think that there are along the lines of 4,000 tigers privately held in the state. (If current estimates are correct that's more than the wild population). So the animals you see in Fort Worth of Waco very well may have been rescued from a cage in someones back yard, and if that's the case these exhibits would be paradise for them.
