The old ocelot has been off exhibit for a long time due to it's very old age (they were not planning on returning the old ocelot to being on exhibit). This ocelot is now on exhibit and is much younger.
@Arizona Docent It was difficult getting around in the cramped area due to the high crowds at the zoo (The overflow of the overflow was full and people resorted to parking on the side streets around the zoo). I got lucky with this picture, then looked down to see it was way too dark, so I waited for the ocelot to go back to the position for about 15 minutes. The ocelot just stared at me. I took many more brighter pictures, as I took a lot since I had never gotten an opportunity to take good pictures of an ocelot.
I also hate to say it but I prefer going to zoos on crappy days because of the crowds now.
@ThylacineAlive The SSP is for L.p. mitis and most ocelots in AZA facilities are of this race. However there may be some older individuals that are not and it is almost certain there are some in non-AZA facilities (both public and private) that are not.
I learned very recently from a volunteer at an AZA facility that an expert on artificial insemination from Cincinnati Zoo was going around the country a month or two ago and inseminating ocelots at various facilities. Let's see how many take.
@Arizona Docent Someone had told me that Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum kept "Sonoran Ocelot" but I don't think Ocelots are found anywhere near the Sonora Desert so I figured that was false.
The my local zoo the Beardsley Zoo, working with Cincinnati, has successfully had Ocelot kitten born via artificial insemination.
@ThylacineAlive this isn't related to the specific Ocelots at the Desert Museum, but the species does live in Sonora (in which part of the Sonora Desert lies). This article (Ocelots try to survive in a world that barely knows they exist) says "Five hundred or more ocelots live in eastern Sonora, Mexico, according to the Northern Jaguar Project, a group that monitors both ocelots and jaguars south of the border."
