Wild Cats In South Texas

The single greatest threat to ocelots is loss of habitat.

Wild cats in south texas. Eighty or fewer ocelots ornately spotted middle-weight felids resembling undersized. Rare wild ocelot spotted on South Texas wildlife refuge. Currently found only in extreme southern Texas.

The jaguarundi and the margay occur. Wild cats are solitary territorial animals. Bobcats ocelots jaguarundi mountain lion and jaguar.

The Feline Research Program at Texas AM University-Kingsville is dedicated to conducting research on wild cats to gain understanding of their ecology behavior and conservation genetics and apply knowledge gained to the recovery of wild populations. There are two types of bobcats in Texas. Not much larger than a house cat the jaguarundi.

Mountain lion sightings are not unheard of in this part of south Texas but as with other sightings it is the apparent melanism of the big cat witnessed that makes this incident even more unique. South Texas had originally five species of wild cats. According to the Texas Parks Wildlife Department breeding populations of wild mountain lions are found only in the Big Bend Trans-Pecos region and deep south Texas in close proximity to the Rio Grande.

Here at Laguna Atascosa National Park in Cameron County there are three varieties of wild cats. Of late south Texas and the Hill Country seem to be the hot spots for black panther sightings. Meet the Native Cats of Texas Jaguarundi Jaguarundi Herpailurus yaguarondi The jaguarundi shares characteristics with the ocelot.

Both live in far south Texas and consume similar prey species consisting of rabbits small birds and rodents. Many wild cats species are either endangered or threatened. The desert bobcat is found in the west and northwest regions of the state while the Texas bobcat roams throughout the rest of the state.