Ecology of an ocelot population at the northern edge of the species’ distribution in northern Sonora, Mexico

We used data from eight years of camera trapping at Rancho El Aribabi, a cattle ranch and conservation property in northern Sonora, Mexico, to examine the ecology of the northern-most known breeding population of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). Ocelots were found mostly in two discrete and disjunct areas: a riverine riparian canyon at just less than 1,000 masl elevation and along arroyos in an oak-mesquite savanna in the Sierra Azul at 1,266–1,406 masl.

The ocelot Leopardus pardalis in north-western Mexico: ecology, distribution and conservation status

From July 1998 to July 2000 we collected locality information and habitat associations for 36 records of the Endangered ocelot Leopardus pardalis in the Mexican State of Sonora. Twenty-seven (75%) of the records for which we could determine the biotic community association were associated with tropical and subtropical habitats, namely subtropical thornscrub, tropical deciduous forest or tropical thornscrub.

New photo of same Ocelot in Huachuca Mountains

desierto

Today a new photo from May 26th, 2011 of an Ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains was released by the AZ Game and Fish Dept. The photo was given to AZGFD by two hunters who had set up an automated trail camera. The press release (attached here) says AZGFD will show the photo to biologists to determine if it is the same individual photographed on Feb. 8 of 2011.