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The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis, or Felis pardalis) is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America. Its northernmost occurrence is Texas. It is up to 100 cm (about 3.2 feet) in length, plus 45 cm (about 1.5 foot) tail length. It is similar in appearance to the oncilla and the margay, who inhabit the same region, but the ocelot is larger.

The ocelot is very nocturnal and territorial. Like most felines, they are solitary, usually meeting only to mate. However, during the day they rest in trees or other dense foliage, and will occasionally share their spot with another ocelot of the same gender.

While they are well equipped to an arboreal lifestyle, and will sometimes take to the trees, they are mostly terrestrial. Its prey includes monkeys, snakes, rodentMany, see text The order Rodentia is the most numerous of all the branches on the mammal family tree. Currently there are, depending on the authority consulted, between 2000 and 3000 species of rodent—roughly half of all mammal species. Rodents are founds and birdFor other meanings of bird see bird (disambiguation). Many see text Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones. There are almost 9000 known species of birds ins. Almost all of the prey that the ocelot hunts is far smaller than it is. Studies suggest that they follow and find prey via odor trails, but ocelots also have very keen vision.

The ocelot's furFor alternative meanings, see Fur (disambiguation). The term fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). True fur comes from animals where the coat consists of short ground hair, long guard h resembles that of a jaguarJaguars Panthera onca are large members of the cat family native to South and Central America. They are closely related to the lions, tigers, and leopards of the Old World, and are the largest species of the cat family found in the Americas. They vary fro; it was once regarded as particularly valuable, and because it was so popular the ocelot remains one of the most well known of the small wildcats. Several hundreds of thousands of ocelots were killed for their fur; therefore this cat is now an endangered speciesAn endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. Many countries have laws offering special protection to these species (forbidding hunting, banning their habitats from development, etc. to prevent t in many countries.