Save the Ocelots

I read in the local newspaper this morning about how some biologists for the Rio Grande Valley Refuge are trapping some ocelots for tagging and research purposes. O course no harm is brought to the ocelots, and they are released back into their habitat.

I had read up on the ocelots for my ecology course last semester and took a great interest in them because I believe I encountered one before. I'm not sure if my encounter was with an ocelot or not, but I like to hope it was. In reading about the ocelots last semester I read there were only about 100 or so left in the refuge. But the paper today said that they believe there to be only about 50 left. Which is quite disturbing to hear because the Rio Grande Valley is one of the last natural habitats they are found in North America.The biologist in the article did say that with the high amount of rainfall we've experienced here in the Rio Grande Valley this year, there is much prey avaliable for the ocelots. I sure hope our conservation efforts of the refuge can lead to the habitat sustaining these creatures.