Arizona Fish and Game confirms super rare ocelot
Arizona officially has an ocelot–a small, endangered cat that hasn’t been seen alive in the state since 1960. The cat lives mainly in Central America with a tiny population in Texas and another in Argentina. “Now Arizona can be included in that range,” the AZFGD announced with suitable excitement.
Ocelot range map from theanimalfiles.com
People have known for a while that some ocelots wander into Arizona. One was hit by a car last year. The Sky Island Alliance caught one on a photo trap in 2009, but the AZFGD for some reason doesn’t count that as official.
There’s still a chance this could be a feral pet, but it’s looking like a native wild cat. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, Arizona ocelots cross the border from Norther Sonora and are another subspecies of ocelot (L. pardalis sonoriensis) than the 100 or so (L.p. albescens) that live in southern Texas, mainly in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The population forks in Mexico and the two branches don’t touch for hundreds of miles.
Where to Go to See Big Cats
Seeing Ocelots in the U.S
They’re really hard to see, but the 100-some cats that live in America are mostly concentrated in the 45,000-acre Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, the EDF says. Texas Parks and Wildlife says they’re also at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge near Alamo; Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park near Mission; Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area near Edinburg; and Audubon’s Sabal Palm and Grove Sanctuary near Brownsville.
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