Making Room for Comeback Cats

Defenders of Wildlife
Friday, 1 February 2002

Defenders, Texas Parks & Wildlife, Landowner Cooperate on Ocelot Restoration

A volunteer crew planting 3,000 native brush seedlings in this corner of the lower Rio Grande Valley this weekend will cap a collaborative effort by a private landowner, environmentalists, and state agencies to restore vital habitat for the endangered ocelot and other creatures that once thrived throughout south, central and coastal Texas.

The restoration effort is coordinated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPW) and funded by a $10,000 grant from Defenders of Wildlife, a national non-profit conservation group. Rancher Eddy De Los Santos has worked with TPW to conduct controlled burns and take other steps to prepare some of his land for the habitat restoration work, which will plant more than 3,000 brush seedlings along a key corridor linking the last two breeding populations of ocelots in the U.S.

"The cooperation that has gotten us to this point has been simply spectacular," said Scotty Johnson, rural outreach coordinator for Defenders of Wildlife. "We've brought together the landowner, the state agency, and the conservation community on an effort that will make a real difference on the ground for the ocelot and other wildlife."

The ocelot once thrived in the thorny brush that was typical of the lower Rio Grande Valley, but the species has declined due to habitat loss to farming and urban growth in the region. The ocelot was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1972.

De Los Santos' land is an ideal location for such a habitat restoration project, as it is near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, home of the approximately 100 ocelots remaining in the region.

"It's a God-send to be able to reforest this land. It is close to the refuge on the north and east. These trees will build wildlife numbers and help secure a corridor for the ocelot. I know I will enjoy this for many, many years and so can my kids," De Los Santos said.

John Young, a mammologist with the TPW Wildlife Diversity Program noted the importance of these sorts of cooperative habitat restoration efforts with Texas landowners, who control more than 90 percent of the landscape in the state.

For more information, or to contact Defenders of Wildlife, see their website at: www.defenders.org