2. Natural History

The Margay:

The margay, easily confused with the ocelot, has plush fur patterned with black-ringed rosettes and long blotches on a brownish-yellow background. It has two dark cheek stripes on each side of the face. The tail is 70% of the body length and marked with wide rings and a black tip. Its large, rounded ears are black with a white spot in the middle. As it is mostly nocturnal, the margay has enormous dark-brown eyes. Adult margays weigh 9-20 pounds (3-9 kg) and reach a length between 34-52" (86-130 cm).

Margays are found in humid tropical forests from northern Argentina to Mexico. A mainly tree dwelling animal, it uses its broad, soft feet and mobile toes to hang from tree limbs by one hind foot and can rotate its foot 180 degrees. The long, heavy tail helps with balance when moving from tree to tree. When descending a tree, the margay walks straight down with its head first. Their prey items consist of small, tree dwelling rodents, opossums, squirrels, sloths, monkeys, porcupines, birds, insects, and occasionally fruit. Little is known of their social system in the wild. After a gestation period of about 85 days, margays give birth to a single kitten once a year. The kittens open their eyes after about two weeks and are darker than their parents. Mature at about two years, margays have been known to live for thirteen years in captivity. However, these shy cats do not breed well in zoos and almost half of the kittens don't survive.

Distribution:

Although the margay use to be found as far north as Texas, it's current range is from Mexico to northern Argentina in evergreen and deciduous forest habitats below 1200 meters in elevation.. It often hunts on the edge of a forest and may be found in nearby savannah habits as well. Little is known about the margay's status and numbers across its range, although it is most common in the Amazon Basin. A margay's home range appears to be eleven to sixteen square miles.

Primary Problems for the Wild Populations of Margays

The margay was one of the four most heavily exploited cats for the fur trade until trade restrictions in the 1980's, although illegal hunting continues to be a problem in some areas. However, loss of its habitat from deforestation is now the greatest danger to the remaining margays. Margays are unable to adjust to logged areas of the forest because they are unwilling to cross cleared sections. They are then restricted to small patches of forest, where inbreeding is a problem. Over hunting for their fur, capture for the pet trade and logging of the forests have almost destroyed wild populations of this beautiful little cat. Margays are legally protected over most of their range. However, they have no protection in Ecuador, Guyana and El Salvador. CITES has placed then on Appendix I.

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Revised: September 27, 2003 .