"little jaguar" 🐆🐆🐆#Oncilla Leopardus tigrinus

1 year ago
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Oncilla Leopardus tigrinus translates as "little jaguar", because in addition and color it really resembles a miniature jaguar.

Oncilla is smaller than an ordinary domestic cat; the weight of a very large male is about 2.8-3 kg with a body length of up to 65 cm.

This cat is found from Costa Rica and northern Panama to southeastern Brazil and northern Argentina. There are no reports of encounters with it in the Amazon basin; apparently, the area of oncilla is limited to mountainous and subtropical forests. Its range is highly mosaic, and in most places it is rare.

Oncilla is an almost unexplored species. Apparently, she leads a solitary lifestyle, is active mainly at night, and during the day she rests in the branches of trees, where the mottled patronizing color makes her almost invisible. 

It hunts small rodents, birds, possibly non-venomous snakes and tree frogs. It has been reported that oncillae catch small primates in Brazil.

In captivity, oncilla is well tamed, but in European zoos it is rare

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