Ozik, the ocelot is a new resident in Feldman Ecopark. A three-year-old male was given to the Regional Landscape Park by its former owners (in connection with their relocation and difficulties with the wild cat maintenance at home).
“Ocelot is a very beautiful animal that looks like a mini leopard. It is known that ocelot was Salvador Dali’s favourite, however, it is not the most appropriate animal for home – it needs space, fresh meat and proper care. That is why it will be better for Ozik in Ecopark,” Feldman Ecopark’s deputy director for zootechnics, Valeriia Ivashchenko noted. “The animal is currently in quarantine, but we are planning to build an enclosure especially for it soon. The visitors to Ecopark will be able to appraise the beauty and grace of this bright representative of the cat family from America (the researchers state that the Peru Indians worshiped this animal) already in summer.”
It should be reminded that Feldman Ecopark has one of Ukraine’s biggest collections of felines – 46 animals of 16 species. The total of more than 2,000 animals of nearly 300 species lives in it.
Reference. Ocelot is a predatory mammal of the felidae family living in America. Ocelot’s body length (from head to tail tip) is from 100cm to 140cm, the height is around 50cm, the weight is from 10kg to 16kg. The fur colour is yellowish-brown with black ring-shaped spots. The fur inside the rings is a little darker than around them. The spots on the neck and around the shoulders change into the strips, and the ones on the legs – into points. Ocelot’s appearance reminds a long-tailed cat or a leopard’s kid, although it is larger than wild cats and smaller than leopards. Ocelots live solitary lives and hunter mainly at night. During the daytime heat, they prefer hiding in tree hollows.Ocelot’s prey includes mainly small mammals and birds. Ocelots are attached to their habitat (up to 31 sq.m. for males and 14 sq.m. for females). As of today, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources recognized it as an animal under the lowest risk, however, during the long time it was considered as a vulnerable species. In the 20th century, this species suffered from the illegal fur trade. Now the population decreases due to the reduction of the natural habitat of ocelots – rainforests.
