Selecting the Reintroduction Site
Partners plan to reintroduce ocelots to a portion of their historical—but now unoccupied—range in Texas. The site selection process required a thoughtful assessment of the ecological and socio-political suitability of potential ocelot habitat areas in Texas, and, from this effort, a habitat patch in Jim Hogg and Starr counties in the Tamaulipan Thornscrub ecoregion of South Texas was chosen as the ocelot reintroduction site. See the "Assessing Factors in Site Selection for Ocelot" document in Project Resources for more information about the site selection.
Partners plan to reintroduce ocelots to a portion of their historical—but now unoccupied—range in Texas. The site selection process required a thoughtful assessment of the ecological and socio-political suitability of potential ocelot habitat areas in Texas, and, from this effort, a habitat patch in Jim Hogg and Starr counties in the Tamaulipan Thornscrub ecoregion of South Texas was chosen as the ocelot reintroduction site. See the "Assessing Factors in Site Selection for Ocelot" document in Project Resources for more information about the site selection.
The reintroduction site has over 400 square kilometers of highly suitable woody cover that can be used by ocelots and a known presence of populations of various ocelot prey animals. It is also remote enough to avoid potential threats to ocelots, including human development, high-traffic roadways, and potential storm surges from hurricanes. Over 30 percent of the identified habitat is owned by project partner the East Foundation within its San Antonio Viejo Ranch, and the remainder of the habitat exists mostly on other privately owned ranchlands.
Planning Ocelot Releases
To evaluate strategies for establishing a new and viable ocelot population and to inform reintroduction plans, the partners developed a demographic population model of ocelot reintroduction at the selected reintroduction site. This model found that establishing a new ocelot population will require a long-term and dedicated effort (likely of at least 10 years of annual ocelot releases) that will only be possible with the support of all involved partners. The "Ocelot Viability in Reintroduced Population in Texas" Project Resource documents the ocelot population model used to plan releases.
Photo courtesy of Ben Masters
Breeding Protocols and Facility
A breeding program that propagates healthy and genetically diverse ocelots will be necessary for supplying the source stock of ocelots for reintroduction. So, partners developed a "Manual" of protocols for breeding and reintroducing ocelots in Texas. Protocols include information about providing veterinary care to ocelots in the breeding program, using natural and assisted methods for breeding, behaviorally preparing ocelot offspring for life in the wild, releasing them at the reintroduction site, and monitoring ocelots long-term at the reintroduction site. You can view current plans at "Manual for breeding and reintroduction" under Project Resources.
A breeding program that propagates healthy and genetically diverse ocelots will be necessary for supplying the source stock of ocelots for reintroduction. So, partners developed a "Manual" of protocols for breeding and reintroducing ocelots in Texas. Protocols include information about providing veterinary care to ocelots in the breeding program, using natural and assisted methods for breeding, behaviorally preparing ocelot offspring for life in the wild, releasing them at the reintroduction site, and monitoring ocelots long-term at the reintroduction site. You can view current plans at "Manual for breeding and reintroduction" under Project Resources.
The location of the ocelot breeding program will be the Ocelot Conservation Facility in Kingsville, Texas. Construction on the facility began in 2025, and the facility will be completed in 2026, with the first breeder ocelots entering the facility then.
Regulatory assurance for private landowners
Reintroducing an endangered species to privately owned lands requires mechanisms to relieve landowner concerns regarding potential Endangered Species Act restrictions on land use. Because most of the identified ocelot reintroduction site occurs on private working ranchlands, partners needed to engage in policy to protect the rights and interests of landowners. We identified a Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement as the vehicle to meet program goals of recovering ocelots on private lands. The East Foundation developed a proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for ocelot reintroduction, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved this agreement in March 2024. The full Safe Harbor Agreement text is available under Project Resources.
"The Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), based at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, is focused on improving conservation outcomes for endangered wild felids, including the wild ocelots of South Texas. Over the past 25 years, CREW has been investigating the reproductive biology of ocelots and other small felid species to improve population management within zoos, and developing assisted reproduction approaches to support natural breeding efforts. CREW's success in applying semen collection, cryopreservation and artificial insemination with zoo-housed ocelots has laid the groundwork for using similar approaches to assist with recovery of wild Texas ocelots. Working with the Ocelot Species Survival Plan (SSP) and Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) Ocelot program as part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), CREW also plays a key role in propagating and managing ocelot populations for AZA-accredited zoos and the Texas ocelot breeding and rewilding facility."
— The Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife
