A homeowner photo and paw prints seem to verify a rare Ocelot sighting in Arizona this past Friday..........Two other Cochise County, Arizona sighting were previoiusly documented this year.............The historical USA Ocelot range was Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Southeastern Arizona..........The Border fence being erected by US Homeland Security a threat to all species who move between Mecico and the USA, not the least of which are Ocelots and Jaguars

Ocelot possibly spotted in Cochise County

By Bonnie Loftus

TUCSON, AZ
Arizona Game and Fish Department officials have verified a highly probable ocelot sighting in Cochise County.Photos of the sighting were provided to the department by a homeowner around 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Verification of the sighting included paw prints at the scene. Game and Fish officials will share the image with other ocelot experts for an independent analysis to attempt to definitively determine if it is an ocelot, hybrid or other large cat.

They also will compare it to photos from previous sightings to determine if it's the same or a different animal from those sightings. An ocelot was photographed in Cochise County twice this year and was identified as probably the same animal.

"We're excited to see the continued presence of ocelots in Arizona and are anxious to see what analysis of this new photo tells us," said Eric Gardner, nongame branch chief for Arizona Game and Fish. "The more photos we can obtain and the clearer they are, the better opportunity we'll have to learn more about ocelot prevalence in our state."

The ocelot is listed as an endangered species in the U.S.
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Ocelot Leopardus pardalisESA status: endangered

Beauty may indeed be only skin-deep; that’s never been a problem for the ocelot. With its striking spotted coat, large eyes, and long tail, this mid-sized member of the cat family stands out even among its visually arresting relatives such as the tiger and the leopard.

The ocelot is comparable in size to an oversized housecat, weighing between 16 and 22 lbs. Throughout its historic range in North, Central, and South America, it inhabited diverse environments including tropical and subtropical forests, coastal mangroves, swampy savannas, and thornscrub. Its attractive design includes less-apparent features that make it well-adapted to the thick vegetation of its home: muscular forelimbs for climbing, thickened neck-skin to protect it from attacks, and broad, short paws for pouncing on prey.

 It walks long distances in search of food, seeking out small- to medium-sized birds and mammals and rushing them rather than waiting in ambush or stalking like some other cat species. It wanders and hunts at night and sleeps the day away hidden in heavy brush or up in a tree.

 The U.S. ocelot population represents the northernmost extent of the species – they used to range through parts of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and southeastern Arizona (the Arizona population was separated from the others by the Sierra Madres). But now they are known to reside only in parts of Texas, in populations which total fewer than 25 cats. However, recent sightings in Arizona may reveal another U.S. population.

Historically, people hunted the ocelot for its fur. After 1930, the threats shifted to habitat loss, disease, and inbreeding. The ocelot was listed as endangered in the U.S. portion of its range in 1982. In the modern age of vehicle travel and roads, the ocelot is facing one of its greatest challenges yet.

Despite Endangered Species Act protection, the species is struggling to recover in habitat fragmented by roads and traffic. Individuals attempting to find territories away from the crowded core habitat where the breeding populations reside are often killed crossing roads. Dispersing ocelots usually find they have nowhere to go – farmers and developers have cleared 95 percent of the ocelot’s U.S. thornscrub habitat.

 Despite listing the ocelot, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has refused – for 30 years – to create critical habitat protections for this imperiled cat, and that hesitation may prove fatal. From 1991 to 2000 alone, approximately 113,126 acres of suitable ocelot habitat was destroyed in south Texas. Precious thornscrub in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the ocelot’s last U.S. strongholds, is disappearing at an alarming rate. That’s a serious blow for both the ocelot and jaguarundi, which both depend on this increasingly rare habitat type.

And, like many other animals on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, the ocelot is threatened by a myriad of human border activities including immigration, drug trafficking, police and military actions, border installations and fences, and artificial lighting.

Without critical habitat protections, ocelots are unable to expand into new territories and connect with other isolated ocelot populations. With no place else to go, the ocelot may be taking the long walk into extinction. WildEarth Guardians is working hard to protect critical ocelot habitat in order to give these beautiful cats the room they need to roam.

• Significant Actions:
• January 2010 - WildEarth Guardians petitions for ocelot critical habitat
• February 2010 - WildEarth Guardians comments on the Laguna Atascosa Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment
• August 2010 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service releases a revised recovery plan for the ocelot
• October 2010 - WildEarth Guardians comments on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife revised ocelot recovery plan
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Addressing Threat from Border Infrastructure

A leading threat to ocelot populations in the U.S. are their isolation from Mexican populations,

as well as mortality from vehicular collisions. Border infrastructure and activities greatly

increase both threats. As the draft plan (at p. 26) states:

Thus, ocelot recovery in the U.S. will be greatly hindered as they become more

genetically and demographically isolated from the much larger Mexican

population.

Actions on behalf of the ocelot will need to consider the cumulative impacts of

fencing, lighting, highway traffic, and habitat avoidance due to human activities.

There is little in the plan that will address the grave and growing threat from border walls and

fences that are not permeable to ocelots; artificial lighting at night, which may disturb or impede

ocelot dispersal or travel; high-speed and high-volume vehicle traffic, which can increase the risk

of road mortality; off-road vehicle traffic; and other dangers from border activities. The plan

includes the measure that it will “partner” with Homeland Security and Border Patrol on these

border issues (e.g., step 4.1.7 on p. 42), but FWS needs to go further. The agency (and the

recovery plan) must be clear on how and what measures must be taken to protect the ocelot from

this threat sufficient to recover it.

Actual Plan Implementation

FWS must implement the recovery plan. While this seems obvious, the agency states in the

revised plan (p. 68):

The value of this plan depends on the extent to which it is implemented; the

USFWS has neither the authority nor the resources to implement many of the

proposed recovery actions.

This is quite concerning to us, given the desperate biological straits the ocelot faces in the U.S.

Furthermore, the ESA specifically requires that the Interior Secretary implement recovery plans:

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See IUCN account for ocelot at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/11509/0 (Accessed October 2010).

WildEarth Guardians & Environment Texas

Re: Comments on Draft Revised Recovery Plan for Ocelot

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The Secretary shall develop and implement plans (hereinafter in this subsection

referred to as “recovery plans”) for the conservation and survival of endangered

species and threatened species listed pursuant to this section, unless he finds that

such a plan will not promote the conservation of the species.

See 16 U.S.C. § 1533(7). We believe under the provisions of the ESA, particularly Sections

7(a)(1), 7(a)(2), 9, and 10 (16 U.S.C. §§ 1536(a)(1), (2), 1538, and 1539), FWS indeed has

authority to require the habitat protection and restoration, protection for individual ocelots, and

other steps necessary for the species’ recovery. FWS can also require mitigation funds in the

course of approving certain projects and those funds can support the elements of this recovery

plan.

Thanks again for revising the ocelot recovery plan. For your convenience, we have also attached

the comments we recently submitted on the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge’s draft

management plan, given the importance of this refuge for ocelots in Texas.

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Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

/s/Nicole J. Rosmarino

Nicole J. Rosmarino

Wildlife Program Director

WildEarth Guardians