Ocelot to ask?

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is teaming up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an “Enhancement of Survival Permit” that is part of a larger effort to increase the population of endangered ocelots in Texas. “Once roaming widely across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Arizona, ocelots have now been reduced to a small group in South Texas largely due to habitat loss,” said Amy Lueders, the USFWS southwest regional director, in a statement to the press. “With this agreement, the East Foundation has proposed an innovative strategy to aid in the ocelot’s recovery by expanding their range in South Texas. We encourage the public to review the proposed agreement and provide us their input during the public comment period.” In Texas, there are fewer than 100 ocelots known in two isolated breeding populations, and the species is listed as endangered in South and Central America, Mexico and southern Arizona as well. The agreement currently under consideration would reintroduce ocelots on the East Foundation’s San Antonio Viejo Ranch in Jim Hogg and Starr counties and provide additional habitat. In that context, the agencies are asking the public to review and comment on the permit by Oct. 16, either online or via post at Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2023-0160; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA, 22041-3803.