Ocelot
Leopardus pardalis
You Can Find This Animal in the Tropical Forest
From the Keeper
Our ocelots Isidoro (male) and PJ (female) really respond to scent enrichment. Cats in the wild use scent as a way to communicate with each other and their surroundings. Cats mark their territory by spraying urine or rubbing saliva on things. Males can sense when a female is in heat and ready for breeding by her scent. We use different perfumes, lotions and spices to entice our ocelots. They enjoy perfume samples from magazines and body sprays like sun ripened raspberry sprayed on logs or phonebooks. They respond by rubbing themselves on the logs and shredding the phonebooks.
Committed to Conservation
Zoo New England participates in the ocelot Species Survival Plan. By sharing research and knowledge, participating institutions work together to establish guidelines that best ensure the health of captive populations, and with success, the survival of otherwise extinct species.