PUBLISHED RESEARCH
How does ocelot home range size vary as a function of sex, habitat, and time of year?
Led by Dr. Matthew M. Smith, Research Assistant Professor, SPEC Lab, CKWRI
This paper was published in Scientific Reports in October 2025 and can be found here.
Wildlife live in areas called “home ranges” that they use to find food, shelter, and raise young. But choosing where to live comes with trade-offs, and animals must weigh the costs and benefits of finding resources. For ocelots in South Texas, we wanted to understand: (1) what habitat features affect home range size, (2) how home range size changes throughout the year, and (3) how male and female ocelots differ in their home range size. This information can help guide management and habitat restoration targets to improve the abundance of small and fragmented ocelot populations.
Using GPS tracking data from 34 ocelots collected over 10 years, we estimated home range size at monthly, 3-month, and 6-month time periods. We then looked at habitat features within each home range to see what influenced its size. We found that male home ranges were about three times larger and more variable among individuals than females. Ocelot home ranges were smaller when there was more dense woody vegetation and more types of prey. We also found that males used smaller areas in the summer, while female home range size expanded, likely because they were caring for young (see image below). As a whole, we found that woody and complex vegetation could minimize home range size and provide greater landscape connectivity.
Led by Dr. Matthew M. Smith, Research Assistant Professor, SPEC Lab, CKWRI
This paper was published in Scientific Reports in October 2025 and can be found here.
Wildlife live in areas called “home ranges” that they use to find food, shelter, and raise young. But choosing where to live comes with trade-offs, and animals must weigh the costs and benefits of finding resources. For ocelots in South Texas, we wanted to understand: (1) what habitat features affect home range size, (2) how home range size changes throughout the year, and (3) how male and female ocelots differ in their home range size. This information can help guide management and habitat restoration targets to improve the abundance of small and fragmented ocelot populations.
Using GPS tracking data from 34 ocelots collected over 10 years, we estimated home range size at monthly, 3-month, and 6-month time periods. We then looked at habitat features within each home range to see what influenced its size. We found that male home ranges were about three times larger and more variable among individuals than females. Ocelot home ranges were smaller when there was more dense woody vegetation and more types of prey. We also found that males used smaller areas in the summer, while female home range size expanded, likely because they were caring for young (see image below). As a whole, we found that woody and complex vegetation could minimize home range size and provide greater landscape connectivity.
Figure caption: Intra-annual variation in the full (95%) home range size for male and female ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in Texas, USA between 2011 and 2024. Shaded areas show the 95% confidence intervals and points represent average home range size. Home ranges were estimated using an autocorrelated kernel density estimator after fitting a continuous-time movement model to monthly GPS locations.
ONGOING RESEARCH
We are currently working on a number of ocelot research projects, including:
- Assessment of genomic diversity and inbreeding in wild and zoo-based ocelots to inform the captive reintroduction program (lead: Tyler Bostwick, M.S. student)
- Simulation study of wild and zoo-based ocelots to determine how to offset inbreeding in wild populations and best inform breeding pairs for ocelot reintroduction to a third population in South Texas (lead: Tam Ta, M.S. student)
- Novel methodology for density estimation of ocelots in South Texas (lead: James Helferich, Ph.D. student)
- Simulation study of how camera trap placement affects density estimation of wildlife with different movement strategies (lead: James Helferich, Ph.D. student)
- How drought impacts ocelots, bobcats, and coyotes in South Texas (lead: Matt Smith, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor)
- How differences in adaptive regions of the ocelot genome rangewide can inform the reintroduction program (lead: Ariana Cerreta, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate)
- Prevalence of anticoagulant rodenticides and lead in the mesocarnivores of South Texas (lead: Tori Locke, M.S. student)
- Assessment of ocelot adult survival and sensitivity of population projections to survival of young (lead: Tori Locke, M.S. student)
- Den site selection, reproductive timing, and kitten survival in bobcats and ocelots (lead: Tori Locke, Ph.D. student)
- Use of stable isotopes to determine dietary niche separation among ocelots, bobcats, and coyotes (lead: Truman Collins, M.S. student)
- Assessment of prey availability in extant ocelot populations and the reintroduction site (lead: Truman Collins, M.S. student)
- Interspecific competition among carnivores in extant ocelot populations and the reintroduction site (lead: Kyle Yorke, M.S. student)
- How interactions between ocelots and bobcats may affect disease transmission (lead: Alexandria Hiott, M.S. student)
- Seroprevalence of HPAI in felids of South Texas (lead: Alexandria Hiott, M.S. student)
