SAVE MARGAY
- by: Cheyenne Thunderbird
- recipient: UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
I didn't know about such a cat like Margay before I read about it. Why we people destroy everything beautiful?
The margay is a wild cat that lives in the tree canopies of Central and South America. Margays sleep, hunt, mate and give birth to their kittens in the trees, only occasionally coming to the ground. Their beautiful, plush coat is light brown on the top and white on the underside, and is covered by darker stripes and blotches, which are sometimes multicolored. Margays are solitary animals, except during and shortly after mating, and they are generally nocturnal.
Margays resemble ocelots, which often live in the same area. However, margays are smaller and lighter than ocelots. A margay may reach twenty pounds in weight, while an ocelot may reach forty pounds. Margays also have longer tails in proportion to their body and spend more time in trees. The scientific name of the margay is Leopardus wiedii while the scientific name of the ocelot is Leopardus pardalis. Margays are sometimes referred to as “tree ocelots”, and the two cats can interbreed.
Adaptations For Life in the Trees
Margays are very well adapted for traveling through the tree canopy. They are excellent climbers and move easily through the tree tops, making expert leaps from one branch to another. Margays have very flexible ankles which have the amazing ability to turn through an angle of 180 degrees. They also have large feet with flexible toes and can grasp tree branches firmly with all four feet. In addition, margays are able to hang from a branch attached by only their hind heet.
Their long tails help Margays balance in the tree tops, and their large eyes help them see at night. They also have big ears to help them hear well. When margays come to the ground they can walk down vertical tree trunks head first. They are the only cat that is capable of doing this.
Conservation Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has created a list of seven categories to classify an animal’s conservation status. These categories are 1) Least Concern, 2) Near Threatened, 3) Vulnerable, 4) Endangered, 5) Critically Endangered 6) Extinct in the Wild and 7) Extinct. Margays are classified in the “Near Threatened” category, with the likelihood of moving into the “Vulnerable “ category in the near future.
The main threat for the margay population is deforestation, which is done to create land for agriculture and roads. The loss of forest fragments the cat population.The main threats to the species are hunting for its fur and the pet trade and habitat loss due to deforestation. The margay does not adapt well to human disturbance, and is almost extinct in the northern parts of its range. Hunting has decreased significantly due to international protection, but illegal harvesting still occurs locally.
Also the main threats to the species are hunting for its fur and the pet trade and habitat loss due to deforestation. The margay does not adapt well to human disturbance, and is almost extinct in the northern parts of its range. Hunting has decreased significantly due to international protection, but illegal harvesting still occurs locally.
The isolated animals are reluctant to enter open areas to find a new habitat, which can lead to inbreeding and consequent health problems. Margays are protected in most countries in their range, but not in all of them. They are still hunted for their pelts in some areas.
Margays are not as well known as their ocelot relatives due to their secretive nature and their arboreal lives. There's a lot that we still need to learn about the behavior of these beautiful cats. If we understand more about their lives and their reproduction requirements, we may be able to protect them better.
I write this later
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