Life on the Forest Floor

An Ocelot has dark brown irregular shaped spots and stripes, outlined with black on a tan-colored fur. Ocelots are medium sized cats. The cat's underlying color demands on it’s habitat from a darker yellow or cream color in drier areas to a darker yellowish-brown in forested habitats. The slim body of the ocelot can measure up to four feet.

Ocelots hunt mainly at night. It preys on animals such as small deer, rabbits, rodents, reptiles and when available, fish. The ocelot can climb, but not as well as other cats in the rainforest. It will hunt for birds and also sleep in the lower branches of trees in its forest habitat. The ocelot is listed as an endangered species.

Today, the ocelot has almost disappeared from its range in the southern states of North America. They are threatened by the development of farmland. In Central America and the northern countries of South America the ocelot is still to be found in forested areas, but it is at risk through hunting for its fur and also through trapping for the pet trade.