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Jaguarundi
Order:        Carnivora
Family:       Felidae
Species:     Herpailurus yaguarondi  

Its upper parts uniform grizzled gray or brown, red or black, no spots identify jaguarundi.  It head is small and ears are small and rounded.  Its under parts are the same as back or slightly paler.  Its feet are small and doglike.  They are a long-backed, slender-bodied cat with a long, slender tail, long neck and short legs.     They are similar with tayras (Eira barbara) bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) and Pumas (P. concolor). The sound of this mammal is none usually heard in field but makes birdlike chirps.     They are diurnal and nocturnal, terrestrial but can climb trees, solitary and in pairs.  Feeds on small mammals, birds, and reptiles.  Jaguarundis travel widely in a huge home range (13-100 kms2) they den in hollow logs, tree falls and thickets. They are found in many habitats from rainforest to fields, savannas, and dense thickets in scrub, and can live in secondary vegetation near villages, where they may raid poultry.  They may be more common in dry forest, secondary forests, and savannas than in rainforests.

      Jaguarundis live in North, Central and South America.  They are widespread and not hunted for fur trade but apparently, uncommon or rare everywhere.  (CITES Appendix I, US-ESA endangered (Central and North America only)

      Their local names are: Yaguarundi, gato gris, gato montés, gato pardo, zorrogato, onza, leon breñero and tigrillo in Spanish, and anushi puma in Belize.

Margay
Order:        Carnivora
Family:       Felidae
Species:     Leopardus wiedii   

The Margay is identified by its upper parts tawny yellowish to grayish brown, with rows of black spots and lines to longitudinal rows, some spots in open rosettes; the neck with heavy black stripes, its hair “reversed” slanting forward; the fur often soft, parted here and there into clumps, more rarely stiff and smooth.  Its eyes are very large, eye shine bright; whiskers long, the muzzle area at base of whiskers sometimes bulging. The tail is longer than hind leg, spotted and banded with black. Its feet are large fore-and hind feet about the same width.  This is the only New World cat with ankle joints that can rotate sufficiently for it to climb headfirst down vertical trees, with the hind feet turned facing the trunk, like a squirrel.      They are like kittens but spotted and somewhat larger than a large house cat. They are similar with Ocelots (L. pardalis) and the Oncillas (L. tigrinus).

      Margays are nocturnal and arboreal, terrestrial and solitary.  They feed on arboreal and terrestrial small mammals, birds, and reptiles, but also some insects and fruit.  Their diet consist on a largely of scansorial rodents, mouse opossums, and birds, implying that margays capture preys in the trees.  They are found in mature and secondary evergreen and deciduous forests. 

       The Margay lives in Central and South America.  Widespread, but always seems more rarely than ocelot, its status is unknown.  Its fur has less value than of ocelot, but margays are caught in traps set for ocelots. They are threatened by deforestation in Central America. 

       Their local names are: Tigrillo, gato tigre, gato pintado, tiger cat, gato montés, marcaya, caucel, pichigueta, burricon in Spanish, chat tig in Belize, and chulul in Mayan.

Ocelot
Order:        Carnivora
Family:       Felidae
Species:     Leopardus pardalis  

The Ocelot is identified by its upper parts tawny yellowish to buff with black spots and lines in longitudinal rows, many spots in open rosettes, its fur is usually short, smooth and slightly stiff, rarely soft and wooly. The neck with a heavy black stripes dorsally, the fur “reversed” slanting forward.  Its eyes are large, and the eye shine very bright pale yellow, the muzzle profile slightly convex.  Its tail is distinctly shorter than hind leg banded and spotted with black.  Its under parts are white with black spots.  Its feet are large, forefeet broader than hind feet.  They are like kittens spotted.  A long-legged, gracile cat has the size of a medium-sized dog.

      They are similar with the Jaguar (Panthera onca) margays (L. wiedii) and ocillas (L. tigrinus).  They are not usually heard in field. 

      Ocelots are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial and solitary. They are entirely carnivorous, feed chiefly on rodents, supplemented by birds, snakes, lizards, and other small vertebrates.  Ocelots hunt and capture their prey on the ground; they rarely climb trees, but will climb to cross over a stream on a branch or sometimes to rest.  They are mainly active at night, when they spend many hours in dense brush. 

      They are found in habitats with good cover from rainforest to riverine scrub in deserts.  Where they are not hunted for their skins, ocelots adapt well to disturbed habitats around villages, where they sometimes kill poultry. 

     They live in North, Central and South America.   Formerly intensively hunted for skin trade, much less so currently. Ocelots are widespread and common in some areas and naturally or artificially rare in others. 

      Their local names are: Tigrillo, gato montés, manigordo, gato solo, canaguaro, tigrillo podenco, gato tigre, tigre-chico, yaguarete.

Puma
Order:        Carnivora
Family:       Felidae
Species:     Puma concolor

The Puma is identified by its upper parts uniform tawny yellow-brown to dark reddish.  Its head is relatively small; the facial markings are prominent: its muzzle around mouth white, the patch at base of whiskers blackish and the throat whitish.  Its eye shine is bright pale yellow.  The tail is darkening to blackish tip.  Its under parts are paler than back.  When young is spotted with dark brown.  It is large, long-legged, rangy cats, slightly swaybacked when standing.       Pumas are similar with jaguarundis (H. yaguarondi) and they are not usually heard in field, but young emit a shrill whistle and females in heat call with loud screams.

      They are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial, solitary.  Feeds chiefly on medium sized and large mammals such as deer, agoutis, and pacas, but also eats smaller prey such as snakes and rats.  Pumas are found throughout the rainforest, where they seem to keep mostly to dry ground.  They are lovers of wilderness, normally shy and wary of man, and are rarely seen even where common.

     The Puma is the most adaptable of the world’s cats and is found in many climates from boreal to tropical, desert to rainforest, and lowland to montane, in forest, woodland, and scrub habitats with abundant game. 

      They live in the North, Central and South America.  Widespread but always uncommon or rare, locally hunted as a predator of livestock, extinct over much of former range, and locally threatened by deforestation and over hunting of its prey (CITES Appendix I) 

      The Pumas are also locally called Leon, Leon Colorado, Leon de montaña, red tiger, tig rouge, and guasura.

Jaguar
Order:        Carnivora
Family:       Felidae
Species:     Panthera onca

The Jaguar is identified by its upper parts tawny yellow with black spots, many on back and sides in open circles or rosettes, the neck is spotted above and below not striped, its fur is short and smooth.  The head is very large, and its canine teeth are long and stout, its eye shine is bright greenish yellow, the ears are rounded, white inside and black behind tips. The tail is long, spotted or banded with black.  The under parts are white with black spots.  Its very large and heavy, built for power, and it is not speedy, with a short back, thick body, robust, short legs and large feet.

      The Jaguars are similar with ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) and they occasionally roar, day or night with a pulsed series of single, deep, resonant, hoarse grunts that can be heard for several hundred meters. 

      They are nocturnal and diurnal, terrestrial, solitary.  Feeds chiefly on large mammals such as capybaras, peccaries, and deer, also on turtles, tortoises, caiman, birds, fish, and smaller mammals such as sloths and agoutis.  They are found in a wide range of habitats from rainforest to wet grasslands and arid scrub. 

      They live in North, Central and South America.  It is difficult to estimate populations, but jaguars are rare or absent in many parts of their former range due to over hunting for the fur trade, loss of habitat by deforestation, persecution by ranchers, and probably loss of their prey.  Only a few hundred are thought to remain in all of Mesoamerica, but they are still widespread and can be locally common in Amazonia.  (CITES, Appendix I)

The Jaguar’s local names are: Tigre, jaguar, and tigre real in Spanish, and tiger in Belize.

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