This blog from Panthera Costa Rica and Mesoamerica Director Roberto Salom Pérez examines one of the most iconic small cats in the world — the ocelot. Learn about his recent study examining their population status and connectivity across Costa Rica and find out more about how dogs are integral in this work. Discover why these ocelot “kings” need their forest realm to survive!
Adorned with a beautiful yellow coat with irregular black spots, big front paws and a relatively short tail, ocelots are the biggest of the small cats in the Neotropics. Ocelots are usually the most abundant wild cat in the places where they occur, from the southern United States to northern Argentina. In some places, researchers have found that their presence can limit the population of other small cat species; this has been called the “ocelot effect”. Therefore, you could say that the ocelot is the “king” of the small cats in the Americas.
Long Live the Ocelot King: Evaluating Costa Rican Ocelot Populations | Panthera
Adorned with a beautiful yellow coat with irregular black spots, big front paws and a relatively short tail, ocelots are the biggest of the small cats in the Neotropics. Ocelots are usually the most abundant wild cat in the places where they occur, from the southern United States to northern Argentina. In some places, researchers have found that their presence can limit the population of other small cat species; this has been called the “ocelot effect”. Therefore, you could say that the ocelot is the “king” of the small cats in the Americas.
Long Live the Ocelot King: Evaluating Costa Rican Ocelot Populations | Panthera