Margay

The Cat Survival Trust

The Margay

Felis (Leopardus) wiedi Schinz

Photo: Terry Moore

Contents
	Description Distribution Diet Behaviour Reproduction Conservation Status Captive Breeding and Margays in Captivity Further Reading

Other names
	French:	margay
	German:	Langschwanzkatze
	Spanish:	tigrillo, gato tigre

Description

Sometimes called the long-tailed spotted cat, the name margay is an anglicised version of “marguey” which translates as “tiger cat”. It is also referred to as the little or tree ocelot. There is potentially a great deal of confusion between the colloquial names of the small spotted Latin American felids. Schinz named the margay in honour of the Prince of Wied.
The margay is the about the same size as a domestic cat and the jaguarundi, which is found in the same regions.
Slightly larger than the oncilla, the margay has a much longer tail and is rather more blotched than spotted, but otherwise is extremely similar.
Margays are smaller and more slightly built than ocelots, but their colourings and markings are very alike. They stand relatively higher and have a relatively longer tail than the larger cat. F. (L.) w. pirrensis has a tail 10 cm longer than the local ocelot subspecies.
The skull of the margay is rather small and distinctly rounded. Anterior upper premolars are present.
One of the most remarkable characteristics of the margay is the exceptionally flexible ankle joint. It can supinate through 180° enabling the margay, unlike most cats, to run head first down a tree. This is quite evidently an important adaptation for a tree-dwelling animal. They can grasp branches equally well with their fore and hind paws, and are able to jump considerable distances. Margays have been observed to hang from branches with only one foot.
The coat of the margay is thick and soft, yellowish brown white on the belly, chest, throat, chin and the insides of the limbs. Markings on the body are dark brown longitudinal rows of blotches, the centres of each spot are paler but darker than the ground colour. The backs of the ears are black with white central spots. Margay’s tails are spotted and ringed. No melanistic individuals have been recorded. Margays which live in mountainous regions tend to be more heavily marked and thicker furred than the lowland animals.
Long considered to be a member of the genus Felis, the margay, in the latest review of cat taxonomy, has been placed with its closest relatives in the genus Leopardus (Wozencraft 1993). These three species (margay, L. wiedi, ocelot, L. pardalis and oncilla, L. tigrina) have 36 chromosomes, most other cats have 38.
Eleven subspecies of margay have been described:

F. (L.) w. wiedii	East and central Brazil to north Argentina
F. (L.) w. amazonica	Amazonas, Brazil
F. (L.) w. boliviae	Bolivia and Mato Grosso, Brazil
F. (L.) w. cooperi	Nuevo Leon, Mexico and Texas border
F. (L.) w. glacula	Sinaloa to north Oaxaca, Mexico
F. (L.) w. nicaraguae	Honduras to Costa Rica
F. (L.) w. oaxacensis	Tamaulipas to Oaxaca, Mexico
F. (L.) w. pirrensis	Panama to north Peru
F. (L.) w. salvinia	Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador
F. (L.) w. vigens	Orinoco to Amazon Basin
F. (L.) w. yucatanica	North Chiapas to north Guatemala and Yucatan

Principal dimensions

	Overall	Males	Females
Head and Body lengths (cm)		53-79	46-59
Tail lengths (cm)		33-51	34-44
Weight (Kg)		2.5-5

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Distribution and Habitats

The margay once ranged from Texas (where they are now extinct) through Central America and south to northern Peru. They have a very similar distribution to the oncilla, ocelot, jaguar and jaguarundi which are all found in the same habitats. These species have been little studied, but they must have evolved to avoid close competition with one another.
Strictly arboreal, the margay is only found in forested areas, although they have been recorded in coffee and cocoa plantations.
The map shows the distribution of Margays in grey.
The map is based on information in the Wild Cats Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan published by the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group in 1996. See our Books page for more details.

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Diet

Thought to forage entirely in trees, the margay eats small mammals, birds, eggs, lizards and tree frogs. They will eat grass and other vegetation, probably to aid digestion.

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Behaviour

Nocturnal, but described as rather more diurnal than the ocelot, margays are probably solitary. Captive females will often groom males, particularly after feeding. They will also live and sleep together when not mating. These facts suggest that margays could be sociable in the wild, but their behaviour patterns indicate that they are solitary except during courtship. All the small cats are able to purr.

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Reproduction

Oestrus is between four and 13 days long. As the male mounts the female, he grasps her by the scruff of the neck with his teeth. Copulation is short, from 15 seconds to one minute. This mating behaviour is common to most of the cats.
Female margays usually give birth to a single kitten, possibly twins, after a gestation period of 65 to 81 days. Kittens weigh about 450 grammes at birth. (In comparison, a domestic kitten may weigh 110 grammes.) Kittens are marked with uniform black spots.The kitten has its first solids within about 40 days and can grow to adult size in eight to ten months.
Captive margays have lived for 18 years.

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Conservation Status

Now on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the margay was hit very hard by the fur trade. Emphasis of exploitation shifted onto them, due to restrictions on jaguar and ocelot.
Fifteen adult margays are killed to make one fur coat. Along with ocelots they were extremely popular as exotic pets in the USA.
The CITES listing prohibits all international trade in the species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) list the margay as Vulnerable. This recognises that they may be in danger of becoming extinct if the causal factors in their decline continue.
Extremely rare in Central America, Margays live at low population densities in areas which are being rapidly destroyed.

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