Ocelot's death raises extinction fear

It could have been the bite of a snake that killed an ocelot in a nature reserve in southern Texas last week, but whatever the cause it is a new blow to the survival of a species already close to extinction in the United States.

By the latest count, only one hundred of the rare sub-species of cat were still living north of the Mexican border. The loss of just one - and in this case it was of breeding age - is therefore of great importance. "You really hate to lose any of them when there are so few of them," said Jody Mays, a US Fish & Wildlife Service biologist.

When found on Sunday in the Luna Atascosa National Wildlife Reserve, the cat was too badly decomposed for a cause of death to be firmly established but a snake bite seemed likely.

Various sub-species of the ocelots, which weigh barely 20lbs, have large ears and are marked with stripes or spots, are found through Latin America as far south as Argentina.

But in the US they are found only in the Lone Star state and are thus named Texas ocelots.

It does not help, Ms Mays said, that the few still surviving are spread over several different parts of the state, making their gene pool all the more fragile.

Threats include disease and hunger, exacerbated by the encroachment of human development on their habitats, particularly in coastal areas increasingly crowded with apartment developments.

"Habitat loss and fragmentation are the biggest threats to the ocelots," she explained. Before their numbers started diminishing, US ocelots were also found in parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.

The cat discovered in the Luna Atoscosa reserve, close to the border with Mexico, was one of only 30 to 40 breeding adults, she added, equivalent to about 3 per cent of the colony's breeding capacity.

In recent weeks, experts have also raised the alarm about plans to extend a border fence between the United States and Mexico saying that as well as impeding illegal immigrants it may also interrupt the migration of animals.

While there is little movement of ocelots across the border today, that may change if biologists manage to save the Texas ocelots and their numbers start to rise again.