Refuge officials hoping to find some new ocelots
The Associated Press
HARLINGEN — Biologists at a far South Texas wildlife refuge are hoping to find some new ocelots as they begin putting out traps to catch and then track the animals.Jody Mays, a biologist in charge of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge's ocelot program, said because of pictures that have been taken, they believe they may have one to three female cats that have not previously been documented.
"We want to see where they are living and if they have kittens," Mays tells the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.
There are only about 50 of the wild cats left in the United States, all of them in South Texas. About 25 ocelets live at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge or on nearby land. The remaining population lives in Willacy and Kenedy counties.
About 15 to 20 traps have recently been set to catch ocelots, which are about twice the size of a house cat and known for their distinctive yellow and black spotted fur.
Mays said if new ocelots are found living close to the refuge, inquiries might be made about buying land to protect them.She's hopeful they'll be able to trap more than the six they got last year. She said the traps are baited and checked early in the morning."If we catch an ocelot, we put it under anesthesia, then we give it a physical and look at the health of the animal to see if it has any injuries," she said.
Once trapped, a passive integrated responder, which Mays said gives the animal a unique identification, is placed between the shoulder blades if there is not one already there. Then, a radio-tracking collar is placed on the ocelot, which helps biologists monitor its movements.
The collar's battery lasts about a year and eventually the collar will fall off.
"Once we put a radio-tracking collar on, then that's basically it," she said. "We then release the cat where it was caught and we're able to track it without affecting its movements.
"We can find out where it's moving and when it's moving and put that on a map," she said.
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"We want to see where they are living and if they have kittens," Mays tells the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.
There are only about 50 of the wild cats left in the United States, all of them in South Texas. About 25 ocelets live at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge or on nearby land. The remaining population lives in Willacy and Kenedy counties.
About 15 to 20 traps have recently been set to catch ocelots, which are about twice the size of a house cat and known for their distinctive yellow and black spotted fur.
Mays said if new ocelots are found living close to the refuge, inquiries might be made about buying land to protect them.She's hopeful they'll be able to trap more than the six they got last year. She said the traps are baited and checked early in the morning."If we catch an ocelot, we put it under anesthesia, then we give it a physical and look at the health of the animal to see if it has any injuries," she said.
Once trapped, a passive integrated responder, which Mays said gives the animal a unique identification, is placed between the shoulder blades if there is not one already there. Then, a radio-tracking collar is placed on the ocelot, which helps biologists monitor its movements.
The collar's battery lasts about a year and eventually the collar will fall off.
"Once we put a radio-tracking collar on, then that's basically it," she said. "We then release the cat where it was caught and we're able to track it without affecting its movements.
"We can find out where it's moving and when it's moving and put that on a map," she said.
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