Two ocelot kittens born at Woodland Park Zoo

Two ocelot kittens born at Woodland Park Zoo

Photo courtesy: Woodland Park Zoo

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Story Published: Oct 1, 2008 at 2:07 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 3:10 AM PDT

By KOMO Staff & News Services

SEATTLE – For the first time in 15 years, Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating the birth of endangered ocelots.

Two kittens were born on Sept. 23 -- the first offspring for 7-year-old mother Bella and 12-year-old father Brazil.

The gender of the kittens is not known yet.

The kittens will not be on public view for at least six to eight weeks. The zoo hopes to have video and images available soon on the zoo’s website at zoo.org and YouTube once staff are able to capture images.

The mother and young remain off public exhibit while the father can be viewed in the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit.

Ocelots are small spotted cats that range throughout Mexico, Central and South America to northern Argentina, with remnant populations in the southwestern United States. The secretive, nocturnal cats are three to four times the size of an average domestic house cat, weighing on average 24-35 pounds and averaging 2½-5 feet in length. They may be found in several different kinds of habitats, from jungle areas and tropical rain forests to dry scrub and chaparral zones.




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